Dhe Brit with the rose-colored glasses was angry when she vented her displeasure on Twitter/X in mid-February: “I won’t travel with Finnair anymore because I won’t let a damn airline fat-shame me,” she posted. User Mandy complained: “I’m totally shocked and disgusted,” garnished with the hashtags “embarrassing” and “cruel.” And one Bryan asked on his account: “Is Finnair thin air now?”

The internet was in turmoil. The Finnish airline had only done something that directly served flight safety: it had announced that it would weigh volunteers among its passengers anonymously and with hand luggage in Helsinki before selected departures. This last happened in 2017, and now the data collected at that time on the average weight of passengers and their luggage should be revalidated. The airline also tried in vain on social media to avert the impending shitstorm with cool explanations. “It is a little difficult to understand what makes a few people and the media so angry about a voluntary and anonymous measurement that we do to comply with regulatory requirements – for safe flight operations,” says Finnair communications director Päivyt Tallqvist some days later.