Carrying on about carry-ons
Posted on October 21st, 2008 – 11:12 AMBy Chris Welsch
I’m just back from a conference in Roanoke, Va. The route took us from Denver to Atlanta on a 737 and Atlanta to Roanoke on a commuter jet. Every seat was taken on both flights. The time it took to board and disembark added more than an hour to each leg of the Atlanta-Denver aspect of the trip. The carry-ons were bigger and more numerous (big surprise — no one wants to pay to check a bag). As we were boarding, a woman yanked three (count them, three) overstuffed rollerbags down the aisle with a look of grim determination on her face. How she got onto the plane with three roller bags I don’t know. Wait, actually, I do know. It was because there was one (count her, one) clerk handling the boarding of the plane. She didn’t have time to look at 300 people’s bags as they rolled by. Miraculously, we got into the air. And then the whole process was repeated as tiny, elderly people struggled to remove their 40 and 50 pound roller bags from the overheads.
I’m a big guy, so even before the situation deteriorated, I found flying a test of patience and endurance. And I understand how Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand is supposed to work in sorting all this out. But we now have entered the territory of safety and civility. The airlines are not going to institute rules on their own, not as long as they are struggling so mightily to survive. Now is the time for Congress to institute some basic rules to ensure that passenger compartments are not overloaded and overcrowded with people and bags.
My proposal: A 30 pound total carry-on weight limit, combined with enforcement of the two bag rule (One regulation sized bag and one “personal item” such as purse, camera or laptop bag). One checked bag of 40 pounds or less at no cost. Am I crazy? Am I advocating winged socialism? Anybody else have ideas? This situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
Atlanta Hartsfield is a separate nightmare (waiting areas that don’t have enough seats, insufficient ventilation, awful food). And it’s one we Minnesotans will become more familiar with as Delta takes over. Let’s save that for a future blog.
28 Responses to "Carrying on about carry-ons"
Every carry-on customer should be required to perform an Olympic style clan and jerk of their bag to prove they can actually lift it into the overhead. I’ve nearly been killed a few times by people trying to “swing” their bag up and into the overhead storage. Remember when flying was fun and glamorous? SHEESH!
As long as airlines allow you to take personal items with you in the passenger compartment, there will never be any change in this behavior. Even when airlines didn’t charge for extra checked baggage there were still a large percentage of each plane hurling their bags into overhead compartments. Now it’s only getting worse. No amount of regulation will stop this, if they say “You can’t bring that bag on Ma’am” There will be a revolt.
The core of this problem, however, is that many people simply bring too much stuff with them on a trip. Does anyone really need to bring 3 bags with them? I suppose if you are going away for 6 weeks and you’re going to be in 5 different climates, but even so my father travels for a living and is gone weeks at a time. He never brings more than 2 bags… a CHECKED bag, and a small carry-on with his laptop and travel documents. Sure, he’s lost more than 3 sets of golf clubs thanks to the airlines, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to bring his entire dresser along with him when he travels.
And don’t even get me started about Atlanta Hartfield…
Ditto that Alan. Air travel used to be glamorous, and people actually dressed up to travel. I appreciate the fact that my seat-mates showered before boarding the plane, so I don’t have to throw up from their stench.
Fun and glamorous?
Right.
if sweatpants=glamour.
It’s become nothing more than a means to an end. The end, obviously, being the completed Disneyfication of Times Square.
Carry-ons. Seriously, do these people think their time is so much more valuable than mine that they cannot wait for checked luggage? If you are such a “road warrior” you should be of a FF level that any checked baggage is free, free, free. Get OVER yourself. The sales meeting you are on your way to will wait and you will still not make the “deal.” so relax.
I flew last week with exactly…no carry on bags. Spent a total of 7 minutes waiting on bags at baggage claim.
Yes, I am superior.
Chad, your a tool.
The luggage will sort it’s self out. It does not fit on the plane, it is sent below. Having just returned from a “cattle car” flight from Miami (fully booked OF COURSE) and having the joy of paying for a full seat but receiving only 2/3 because of ‘Gigantor-and-his amazing-expander-seat-belt’ who was BEYOND squeezed into the CENTER SEAT! I’m FAR more irritated that: a) they even allow seat belt expanders. IF YOU NEED A BELT EXPANDOR YOU NEED TWO SEATS! b) that the airlines have shrunk the seats to an uber-mini-me size - come on, this is AMERICA - NO ONE HERE IS MINI-ME SIZE! Thank god for the drink cart!
Liz, you could have helped by suggesting the big guy sat on the aisle where he could lean out a little. Sure, you would have had to sit in the middle, but we all live in this country and not everyone is a size 2. You even make the case that the airlines are scrunching the seat size down while the american population is getting bigger. Delta’s planes are mostly 17″ wide. NWA’s are 17.2 unless it is a CRJ900 or Embraer 175 where they are larger. Yes, I am a bigger guy but I try to do my homework to find the best planes and best seats to not impact people as much as possible for the times that I do not get upgraded to first. It just bugs me how you “perfect” people seem to think I should not fly. Get off your horse.
put the passengers above in the cubicles, and the bags in the main body of the plane. that ought about to balance things out.
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M - using your instead of you’re makes you the tool
Lyle - Thanks for your consideration, but if someone takes up two spaces they should pay for two spaces. Your (see what I did there M?) argument can be turned around to say “Why should I pay the same amount and be expected to give up space just because I’m a smaller person?”
I say start charging people by the pound and inch…for everything. It has to cost the airline less to fly a 98 pound gymnast with no luggage less than a 350 pound sumo wrestler with 3 bags. We pay for everything else by volume (gas, homes, food) why not space on an airplane?
All I wish for is younger and better looking flight attendants. A hot girl speaking sweetly in a tight outfit makes all the drama’s evaporate. Mandatory job re-classification for sky stewards at age 40 is what I say, oh and they should have to maintain a size 10 or under. Thank you
Amen about Atlanta Hartsfield! Flew thru there on Sunday. What a joke!
a year ago my husband and I flew around Europe a lot on Ryan Air and we were not allowed to bring luggage on the plane. We could bring a small handbag/tiny backpack, but nothing that resembled a suitcase. we also were allowed a certain weight for checked luggage, I believe it was 15 kg and then we were charged a LOT for overages and then there was a limit to that too. We got on and off the plane easily. would this work here?
Since Chad travels with no checked luggage, I won’t feel bad about taking all my luggage on board anymore.
I SAY CHARGE THE CARRY ON PEOPLE THE EXTA $ AND LET US LUGGAGE PEOPLE FREE
I understand the frustration about carry on bags and I have found that those small commuter planes are the best. You can’t fit luggage into the overhead so you have to gate check. Then you get your bags as you step off the plane.
I choose to carry on whenever I fly out because too many times my or my partner’s luggage has been lost…and sometimes not ever found. Not too fun to have to buy all new clothes on a trip, especially in an expensive city.
as a 20 year airport customer service agent, having worked for 3 (and still)of the big legacy carriers and having seen the changes in travel, passengers and of course “new rules” in my industry, we front line employees have the same concerns as you the passengers have. When i started 20 years ago i could work an outbound flight and have 2 0r 3 other agents to assist me. Now with all the downsizing in our industry, one agent is usually the rule and add to that the pressure to get the plane out on time with a full load makes a bad situation worse. and add to that the flight crews have also been reduced, there used to be another set of eyes to check those extra bags at the plane if they slipped past the boarding agent. Trust me, we hate it too. and it is only going to get worse because of the downsizing of flights on all the airlines. Downsizing of flights mean downsizing of agents too. We don’t see blue skies in all of this. I do agree with the person who said why do people need to take so much with them for 3 or 4 days???If you could see some of the stuff in luggage that we see when the TSA has to open the bags, you would be shocked. People pack more than clothes like there is no stores where they are going (groceries etc) and then complain when their bags are overweight.
Sometimes i ask the passengers when I am checking them in “are you moving” and many say “yes” its cheaper. I don’t have any answers but word is that the TSA is going to start enforcing carry on at the point of going through security and sending people back to the tkt counter to check the excess. If you wonder why we don’t catch it at the tkt counter in the first place is that passengers have now become slick and don’t always bring their carry on to the counter when they check in because we try to look and ask what they have, they have friends/family who have brought them to the airport to hold their carry on until after they check in.
hang in there passengers, we feel your pain!!! and to that guy who wants younger and cuter flight attendants, well this is not the industry that people flock to for a career any more and many of the crews are retired from other careers and are there for the flying benefits.
Bill,
You are a sweetheart.
Hope your sales conference in Tulsa goes REALLY well.
M,
Their are to many way’s too spell, is not they’re?
Kisses,
C
Liz, I agree with Lyle, but will be a bit more direct. You’re being a jerk. Not everyone is a mini-me, as you apparently are, and believe me, we’re not trying to make your life even more miserable than it seems to already be. I’m a very wide-hipped woman. Yes, go ahead and say it, Liz, I’m FAT. And there is nothing I hate more than having to ask for a seatbelt extender. I’m not trying to be fat. I don’t act fat, dress fat or eat fat. And having to pack myself into a steel-sided seat isn’t comfortable for me, either. Shame on you for condemning “fat” people.
The airline industry needs to make airline seats more spacious — if the ride is somewhat more comfortable, then more people might fly more often. As for the luggage problem, we all need to pack less. There are wonderful new fabrics that wash up quickly and wrinkle free … if only more were made in plus sizes for us plus-sized people.
Before deregulation, and before revenue management software, the government ensured that all the airlines played nice with each other and all made a small profit. If we went back to that we could have it again, but with prices three times what they are today. Seems like a good trade off to me.
I think a small amount of regulation would probably result in a small amount of fare increases, which would, yep, make travel less affordable, but also make it safer. The fare increases are coming anyway. Also, a special thanks to Cathie for adding an insider’s perspective to the discussion.
I hate flying. Unless I get to sit next to a hot babe. If she smells good.
Having been an FAA Operations Inspector for many years, I have seen this carryon baggage situation deteriorate and no enforcement of existing rules by either the airline or the FAA. Only when this sad situation causes loss of life will something be done about it! Think of this–During taxi out for takeoff, the cabin fills with smoke due to an electrical fire. The Captian orders an Emergency Evacuation.The passengers are supposed to move QUICKLY to an exit and go down the slide. I will bet my 401K, many of them will try to take their luggage from the overhead before moving to an exit. This will cause pandemonium and could be disastrous! LEAVE MY MONEY AND JEWLERY IN THE OVERHEAD??? NO WAY!
Good Luck if you are ever in this awful situation.
Why can’t the airlines go back to “free” checked bags and just charge more for for the flight. It would be easier than the seperate charge and you’re paying it anyway. How long before they start weighing people at check in, not just luggage? Why should I have to subsidize hauling fatty blimp a** across the country just because I exercise and mix in a salad now and then. If you are the size of three people buy the whole damn row or pay for first class. God knows you could use one of those hot towels.
Howdoodie, be careful what you wish for. Two hot babes coming back from AZ. They wouldn’t shut up! Like, ya know, like, ya know, like, ya know. Noise cancelling headphones is the best investment I’ve ever made.
A. When the airlines start inspecting your carry on bag be in for the shock of your life. The limit is 20 pounds unless you’re a required crew member. then it is 30 pounds. You will be charged for that overweight 4th or 5th piece of luggage accordingly.
B. The only thing that will save my job from permanently becoming the bus in the sky is bringing back regulation. Deregulation was the worst thing to happen to the airline industry.
C. The response to the ticket prices going up means when you lazy people got to orbitz or travelocity or wherever you buy your ticket online for dirt cheap under cost website we need to have the price be the cheapest so you buy our ticket and not our competitors ticket. Because even though it should cost you 1000 dollars to fly from grand forks to Philadelphia your getting it for 600 hundred I like having your six in my airplanes seat then in Northwe…I mean Delta’s seat taking the same trip.
I frequently travel for business. I bring a carry-on plus my laptop: I fully admit it. But I made very sure that my carry-on fits the regulations, and slides in to the majority of overhead bins the suggested way. I have very little sympathy for people who bring on 24 inch or larger rollerboards and then take up space in the overhead that could have been taken by two rational people instead of just them. I’ve found myself wanting to turn those bags so I and another person can put our bags in the bin as well: and if the 24 inch bag sticks out? Too bad for that person! And I admit to having these thoughts whether I checked my bag or carried it on.
This is where the problem starts: lack of courtesy for our fellow travelers/human beings. I’m guilty, we are all guilty.
Landing at Logan yesterday, a man behind me actually pushed his way around people waiting to disembark, knocking an older man back into his seat in the process. It’s not like he had to make a connection, we met him again trying to jump the taxi stand line.
Courtesy: we should all give it a chance.
I decided three years ago not to put my seat back anymore. I realized I couldn’t be bitter about the person in front of me throwing back onto my knees if I was doing the same thing to someone else. Bring small carry-ons and don’t lean back. Small kindnesses. Pass them on.
Kerri Westenberg has globe-trotted for National Geographic and other magazines. Now she zips around the region, on the lookout for travel news you can use.
Elizabeth Larsen lived in Salzburg, Austria, and has traveled throughout Europe and the Americas. She can say "diaper," "bottle" and "crib" in four languages.
Troy Melhus has heli-skied on glaciers, dived alongside Monk seals and raced for 24 hours on a mountain bike. All this, and he rarely spends more than $500 on a trip.
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