Airline carry-ons part deux…
Posted by Ben on July 17th, 2006
Once again, there’s an article in the Trib about speeding up the boarding process on airlines. Their suggestion - ban carryons.
I wrote about airline carry-on rules a little while back here. The same arguments I made there hold true. Unless the airlines are willing to take full financial responsibility for lost/damaged luggage without delays in reimbursement, it won’t fly. Too many people travel with valuable objects (laptops, nice cameras, etc.) to allow this to happen.
Actually, to that point, I discovered recently that the TSA and/or FAA have a policy which supercedes the airlines - you’re allowed to carryon a bag of photographic equipment (subject to the normal weight/size limits) in addition to the “1+1″ currently in place. The rule is deisgned to allow working photographers and vacationers with good camera gear the ability to ensure that their valuable equipment is on their person. In the case of a working pro, they could easily be carrying a backpack or roll-aboard with over $20K of equipment (say a pro DSLR + lenses and a digital MF system).
I think the boarding process is something that can only be optimized so much because of the human factors. I like United’s policy because as a traveler with status, I get “seating area 1″. The problem comes, I think, from a couple of areas: First, the less-than-courteous folks who herd around the gate and try to get on the plane before its their turn. Those are the same ones who’ll put all their stuff in the overhead and none under their seat. I try to be as quick as possible in getting on the plane and in my seat with a couple tricks. First, my bags aren’t overpacked - they usually go easily into the overhead or under my seat. Second, for the stuff I want with me in my seat (iPod, books, etc), I have a little pouch in my laptop bag pre-packed with it. Just pull it out, drop in the seat, and I’m done.
Then, there’s the infrequent travelers with weird-ly sized bags, shopping bags as baggage, etc. Easy solution is those sizer templates you see to check the size of your bag. Doesn’t fit in the template, you can’t take it (ie, ditch the “45 linear inches (LxWxD)” policy). Also, if you can’t completely close the bag, it doesn’t fly - this gets rid of shopping bags. Further, if you’re unable to lift the bag overhead by yourself, don’t pack so much (obviously, this doesn’t apply to elderly/disabled). Every now and then, I see a reasonably fit person trying to load a carryon which must contain nothing but wine bottles. Crazy…
August 13th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
Well without shopping bags what will that do to the major airports with clothing and other retail stores?
good points though!
August 17th, 2006 at 11:11 am
Easy. If you feel the need to go shopping at the airport while you’re killing time, leave room in your carry-on bag to accomodate your purchases. If you can’t fit it in, any reasonable store should be able to provide shipping services either gratis or for a nominal fee.
Of course, my home airport is Chicago-O’Hare, which doesn’t have a mall like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia do.
Another part of the problem is the wheeled bags which look like they’re the standard 21″ rollaboard that would fit in an overhead bin, but has weird protrusions that keep it from fitting with the longest dimension matching the depth of the bin. This is especially an issue on single-aisle planes with a lot of business travelers. Some lout comes aboard with a big that just won’t quite fit in long-ways, so they have to turn it sideways, which ends up taking the space of 1.5-2 bags.