Originally Posted by
amanuensis
The idea of re-weighing the bags downstairs implies that the scales at the POC are believed by Southwest to have a degree of imprecision. Which might be true. But another interpretation is possible -- that Southwest doesn't trust its front-line staff to enforce overweight baggage fees.
For Florida airports, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs verifies and certifies the accuracy of baggage scales just like they do for gas pumps and grocery store meat and produce scales under the logic of ‘if a company is going to charge for something based on weight or volume, then they need to charge accurately’. And even Old WN would have had to get their bag scales state-certified because they had provisions to charge for bags they found to be overweight.
(I still miss the days when the Florida scales had stickers on them stating they were certified by then-Secretary of Agriculture Charles Bronson- no relation to the actor but one of the best politician names ever.)