Phantom Weight on Newark Airport Scales May be Costing Travelers

njspotlightnews.org

Checking your luggage at an airline counter or bag drop before a flight at Newark Liberty International Airport? Keep an eye on the baggage scales for phantom weight: You could be told to pay extra for more pounds than you packed.

That’s because Newark’s weighing equipment routinely gives unreliable readings for passenger baggage that’s bound for jet cargo holds. During the scales’ most recent tests by New Jersey state regulators, the devices gave inaccurate results 27% of the time, according to a review of data by NJ Spotlight News and NYCity News Service.