Carry On Limits Being Proposed

Airlines grapple with a carry-on crisis (San Jose Mercury News):

According to Jane Engle, repoprting for the Los Angeles Times, in 1998 the Association of Flight Attendants filed a petition with the Federal Aviation Administration wanting the FAA to set and enforce a maximum size for carry-ons. The FAA said no. More notes from the article:

“Thousands of injuries linked to carry-on baggage occur each year,” the union said in the petition.

The one bag plus a personal item rule seems is now enforced only sporadically. Bag size limits are left up to each airline, so what flies with Continental may not be appproved by United.

Some airlines are increasing onboard storage. American Airlines recently installed deeper bins on its MD-80 fleet to allow bags to be stored with wheels facing out, making room for more bags.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, said he wants fliers to be limited to one carry-on item of a fixed size. The idea of installing templates at checkpoints to block oversize bags was also raised.

Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition said “It would kill the business traveler,” he said. “It would add to the complexity and chaos of business travel today.”

My take is that carry ons are fine, it’s the people that take 20 minutes of standing in the aisle fussing to get them stowed that are the problem. Severe limits on aisle clogging should be seriously looked at. Have a checkpoint with a simulated airline interior and a stopwatch. Time travelers on how long they take to get their rear ends into their seats. Anyone taking more than 15 seconds gets their bag checked…