airlines should rethink cabin bags situation

[aaatozedd]

AIBU to say I'm finding these days when I go on a plane;
-people bring too much cabin baggage and get arsey with the staff about it if told it's too much/suitcase too big etc

• there's not enough space in all the overhead lockers for all the bags
• people swing the cases around to get them in and out which makes it feel more cramped and dangerous that bags hit people on the head etc

I think airlines should go back to one charge for seats and that includes checking in a suitcase if you wish. So people can still bring cabin bags but have the option to bring a suitcase/check in luggage etc.

I agree there is barely any wait time for hold bags. That might be just cheap budget airlines as no one has any hold bags.

I loathe my fellow passengers and their precious cabin bags. Mostly because they take a fucking age clogging up the aisles to get stuff in the lockers. And don't even talk to me about getting it out the other end as they hold up the entire plane getting it out again.

Priority boarding should go to the people who can fit their bag under their seat and not use lockers - also disembarking. Only those not reaching for a locker are able to un clip their seat belts and get off. Once we've gone , you lot with your Hannah's, man bags, plastic bag of tat, overstuffed suitcase, jacket that can't be crushed and laptop can sort yourselves out.

How awful for that poor lady with the head injury IusedtoBanoptimist

I bet there are a fair few injuries with people being knocked with cases. It doesn't make the atmosphere on the flight good tbh, everyone is pissed off before you've even taken off, people do get the hump if their big case isn't right where they are sitting and also I feel sorry for the cabin crew having to try to police it all. Some passengers are very rude to them.
I agree sheworebluevelvet that it would be a good idea to let passengers with small hand luggage on and off first so they don't have to get held up by the suitcase faff

FangAchePartDeux You obviously aren’t 6ft tall with 35inch inside leg and struggling to sit comfortably with nothing under the seat near your feet.

No passenger needs the amount of stuff in the cabin that most passengers bring with them. As a commercial airline pilot I have a number of issues with large cabin bags being brought as hand luggage.

1. Punctuality. Each passenger on my airline is entitled to bring 2 pieces of hand luggage with them, one of them can be a relatively large wheeled case. If each passenger brings their full entitlement we are never going to fit it all in. The cabin crew do their best but frequently we are delayed due to having to call baggage handlers to put hand baggage in the hold. We can lose our ATC slot, making us very late, over this, meaning passengers can miss their connecting flights and my airline are then responsible for accommodating/rebooking them. The passengers whose bags are taken for the hold often become argumentative and occasionally aggressive if they feel that they have been infairly treated.

1. Safety. The weight limit per bag is up to 23kg on my airline. The overhead lockers are not capable of taking several bags at maximum weight, and while it is unlikely the lockers will fall down in extreme circumstances it is not uncommon for locker latches to pop open in turbulence. The bags are then free to drop in the passengers sat below them. In the Kegworth crash many of the 39 passengers who died had been struck by falling luggage. Some of them had braced with laced fingers over their heads and had survived the initial crash impact but due to luggage dropping in them both hands were broken, they were unable to undo their seatbelts, and they burnt to death in their seats. Others were knocked out or killed instantly. This was back in the days of lower hand baggage limits and since then locker construction has been improved and the brace position changed to place one hand over the other so that in a similar situation only one hand would be broken. Personally I would not put anything over my head that I didn’t want dropping in it at 4g.

1. Security. Increasing the amount of baggage in the cabin means increased time to security check it and the extra costs associated with it. People still, years after the rule came in, struggle to know what the liquids rule is. This causes delays and is an unnecessary distraction in an area where screening for items not permitted should be the primary concern. Due to the various situations in recent years with anthrax/novichok/radioactive materials it is possible that in the very near future powders will be disallowed in hand luggage too.

It would make my job, the job of the cabin crew and security staff, and your experiences as passengers so much more pleasant if everyone would just put their damn stuff in the hold! But it won’t happen, because everyone thinks that they have a special reason for keeping everything they need for a fortnight in Greece with them at all times. The fact is that these days the queue for passport control is usually sufficiently long that your bags will generally be out in the baggage hall before you get there anyway.

Wouldn’t work for me. I regularly fly to a European airport. I need to catch a particular train the other end so haven’t time for baggage claim. An all inclusive ticket price wouldn’t motivate me to put luggage in the hold. I’m OK with the budget experience as long as the planes are safe and punctual.

I’m just waiting for Ryanair to include the weight of the passenger in their ticket price.

And don’t even get me started on the numpties who slow down emergency evacuations by getting their hand luggage out, bringing it with them and throwing it down the emergency slides. This happens - in the Las Vegas fire passengers were filmed throwing their wheelie bags down onto passengers below as they evacuated the aircraft. The plane was in fucking fire! Get out - your fancy perfume and laptop just aren’t worth your or someone else’s life!

I'm a meticulous one-bagger. When we fly as a family we all have just one carry on which matches or is smaller than the required airline size. This differs so I have about half a dozen bags and pick the correct size. I also weigh it at home.
I like the freedom of getting away quickly and not worrying about my laptop getting damaged or case being lost.
Yet whenever I fly I see that many people don't follow the rules and yet still lug their suitcases on board. Either fly compact or check in your luggage!

I’d welcome a decrease in size for cabin luggage.

Ryanair don't allow carry on luggage into the cabin anymore unless you want to pay extra to be able to do so.

DPs are flying out soon and had an email to say they are allowed a bag 20x20x35 I think that will fit under the seat and that all carry ons I think the 40x30x25 (or something I don't know the sizes) will be taken from passengers at boarding and put into the hold or you can pay extra to be able to take the carry on with you into the cabin.

Always put my case in the hold. That way I don’t have to piss about putting my toiletries in clear containers and I don’t have to worry about it in the departure lounge. The number of times I have nearly been tripped up by people’s trolley bags is nobody’s business.

Wow thanks backinthebox good to hear a pilot's view! but how awful about the Kegworth crash. I think the safety aspect of it all is really concerning tbh. The locker catches are opened and closed so frequently that they must eventually wear out and things could fall out. Plus like pp said, passengers then get up asap to piss about with it all and get stuff back out the overhead lockers too, quite scary if you're in an aisle seat and its all above your head.

We always travel with cabin bags, if they are the right size and weight they shouldn’t cause any problems at all. Much easier than waiting around the luggage carousel, we only go for a week and I don’t want to waste time waiting around for luggage. We travel light and always still bring clothing home that hasn’t been worn. Most people take way too much stuff.

The issue with checking stuff in the hold is security - TSA approved locks mean any airport worker can get into your bag and rummage around in your stuff. So it's madness to put anything remotely valuable in the hold. Then you've got the issue of stuff not making it on the plane, and ending up with you arriving at your destination but your luggage hasn't. This has happened to me on more than one occasion, and it's a royal pain in the arse. Then there's the risk of someone else taking your bag off the carousel

With a cabin bag your stuff is with you at all times.

mumpatrol your DPs will find that at least 50% of their fellow passengers - probably more - will have paid for priority + two cabin bags. On our return flight in June the shortest queue at the gate BY FAR was the one for non-priority passengers.

I've seen people try to take too big bags inside the cabin. I've seen airlines weigh these bags and charge people extra money and rightly so. A couple of recent flights the cabin lockers were full for the last people, so all bags were loaded free into the hold. Some people expect to get hold size bags into the cabin.

God, I didn't know that about the Kegworth crash. There's more here about it.

I just wish airlines would stick to their own rules. Cabin baggage to be a certain size, under a certain weight, one piece only, everything else checked. How hard is that? Make everyone put their bags in those gauges/scales before boarding the plane. All the passengers turning up with oversize/overweight cabin bags would be made to check them in the hold. Making life easier for those of us that play by the rules.

My cabin bag is a squishy weekend bag/oversize handbag type. It can fit under the seat in front of me, but I appreciate that I’m a shortarse so it might not be that easy for everyone. But it means I can avoid the scrum for the overhead lockers completely which is nice; especially as I can’t really reach them anyway!

It would be so much better if airlines enforced the size and weight they say- and if the lockers locked during the flight. However, I agree with whoever said that the wait at Gatwick puts me off checking my bags- either I’m unlucky or it is always hours!

Agreed. The size of bags you can take onboard now is ridiculous.

We recently went for a weekend away in Europe. I'd say 99% of passengers on the return flight had done the same - We all had cabin luggage only.

Flight was delayed by 4 hours. By the time we boarded everyone was very fed up. Then came the Battle of the Hand luggage.

We had one suitcase that fits under the seat in front and one small rucksack which does as well (between 2 of us).

Twice they added a hold luggage label to our suitcase, despite it being small enough to go under a seat. Twice ripped the label off as I was prepared to do that.

When we boarded everyone was furious to discover that their hand luggage had been taken off them'but the lockers were half empty.

I used to be cabin crew. The number of people who would lug a heavy bag through the airport then expect the cabin crew to lift the bags into the overhead lockers was astounding.

“Oh I don’t want to hurt my back” was often quoted at me. Yes, because the cabin crew really want to injure their backs and be off work for months on basic pay. Meanwhile that passenger whose bag the crew member helpfully lifted is long gone. They wouldn’t care.

Ryanair now puts all the carry-ons in the hold for free unless you pay for priority boarding. Initially caused chaos because people didn't realise you just dropped them at the Gate and queued. You just keep your valuables and passports etc. Better than the old system of overdoing the cabin bags. The carousel seems to be quick now so not much of a delay. Saves all that jostling to cram them in the overhead

It would make my job, the job of the cabin crew and security staff, and your experiences as passengers so much more pleasant if everyone would just put their damn stuff in the hold! But it won’t happen, because everyone thinks that they have a special reason for keeping everything they need for a fortnight in Greece with them at all times.

:confused: Your post is really bizarre. I mean, I agree with all your points, but you don't seem to realise that it's your airline that allows this...?

I flew with jet 2 recently, only away for a week and I am a good packer so handluggage only. jet 2 if you haven't flown with them , are very keen to sell you extras. I ignored all their emails, but had to laugh at the final one which guaranteed my little bag cabin space if I was prepared to spend £3!

As it was they clearly had so many cabin luggage only customers that they gave me free luggage check in for my bag (both ways) which I was happy about because it made navigating stanstead easier.

We paid for priority seating and extra hand luggage this holiday. However, due to the amount of people who didn't pay extra for any of this just taking the piss with their 5kg limit we really struggled to get our stuff in the overhead compartments despite it being underweight and the correct size. Why are the airlines not charging everyone for this and weighing stuff? Or limiting for those who don't pay.