More on the squeeze

American and United airlines “will station airline employees or hired contract workers at entrances to security screening lanes to intercept customers exceeding the carry-on limit of one bag small enough to fit in an overhead bin and one “personal item” like a purse or briefcase. That could slow passengers trying to get through security, and collecting the fee at ticket counters and airport curbs could make lines longer. Boarding airplanes could be slower, too, with heightened stress as customers maximize carry-ons to avoid fees and then push to board early enough to find space in overhead cabin bins.

American plans to more aggressively pull customers aside at boarding gates if the airline thinks they have too much carry-on baggage, as well as step up announcements about size limits in gate areas and on airplanes. United says it is still formulating its plans, but may try to gate-check bags for customers in later boarding groups before boarding begins for fully booked flights.

All three airlines say it’s possible that metal templates - which prevent larger bags from making it through X-ray machines - will be reintroduced. That’s a tactic that angered many customers in the past and was eliminated when the Transportation Security Administration took control of screening after the 2001 terrorist attacks.”It’s something we’ve looked at in the past and may look at again,” says Mark Dupont, American’s senior vice president of airport services planning.’ - eTurboNews (underlinging my own - Brad)

Comments

[Joe Dressner]

Just took a Swiss International flight from NY to Geneva. They would only take carry-ons which weighed a combined 8 kilos. That's a shade under 18 lbs for a computer bag and a luggage bag.

I had a computer in my MEI Executive Voyager. They told me the MEI was too large, although it fit into the box, because they only accept "wheeled carry-ons" or computer bags. A supervisor confirmed this policy!

After much argument, they let me take on the MEI if I carried the computer under my arm and moved two books out of the MEI to get under the combined 8 kilo limit for the two items.

I noticed a bunch of my fellow passengers were having no problems with computer bags and wheeled carry-ons!

I fear we are heading for difficult times.

[Stephen Waits]

Will the max carry-on bags, like the Aeronaut, fit through the templates?

[Cindy]

Joe - I looked on the Swiss website and there is absolutely nothing about wheeled bags...
<http://www.swiss.com/web/EN/services/baggage/carryon_baggage/Pages/carryon_baggage.aspx>

I suspect the gate person was trying to find just any reason to get rid of the MEI. The MEI is slightly thicker than allowed, but squishable.

I would suggest that everyone go to the "hand baggage" web page for your carrier and print out the regulations on the bags. Carry that along with your boarding pass. That way you have something to stand on when someone tries to bar your bag. And know your bags dimentions in inches and cm. That way you can make your case in a calm logical manner.

[Joe Dressner]

The problem was the weight. I had a 15"laptop in the bag and it was over 8 kilos, even though it fit into the template. They only let me on when I carried the computer outside of the bag, making the bag weight less than 8 kilos. This level of scrutiny is new to me.

[Frank@OBOW]

Stephen, most international carriers have a more generous carryon dimension limit than US carriers so I would guess the Aeronaut would fit. The Aeronaut is not as prone to bulging as some bags. Lots of legal-size carryons with stated dimensions of nine inches wide are more like twelve inches wide when fully packed. If templates come back there will be lots of room for interpretation - will they let you stuff it in or not? If the airline tells its employees that they need to make some profit on checked bags we'll see a strict interpretaion. Also there will be no monolithic, standard template. It will be a moving target.

[flerdle]

Thanks for the heads-up, Joe - I'm flying Swiss in a month, though from australia so it will be interesting to see if there is a different attitude here. Most airlines from here have a 7kg limit. It's quite harsh. And thanks Cindy for the hints.