Is the solution 10/22?

Ten kilograms/22 pounds. That’s a common international carry-on weight limit. Would not many of the issues surrounding carry-on crowding and abuse be addressed by imposing this simple limit? Continue to allow one under-seat personal item and you have a reasonable allowance by almost any standard. The weight limit for overhead stowage would enhance passenger and crew safety. It would also encourage smaller, softer, lighter bags, which would naturally free up bin space. Enforcement mechanism: a scale.

Update on April 15, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

And one other thing: The real aim of any luggage policy (checked or cabin) should be to encourage the pax to bring less total weight. That’s what would happen if the goal is less fuel burned/less pollutants emitted. No one contributes less to total aircraft weight than the one-bag traveler. However, if luggage handling is viewed as a profit center you’ll see any number of approaches, few of which will reward the light traveler.

Comments

[Alan Birnbaum]

A TWENTY-two lb. limit would certainly keep out of the cabin the Travelpro EXPANDABLE 22-inch Rollaboard that my wife took on our last air trip to Las Vegas, which by our Balanzaa I measured at FORTY-two pounds! (Actually, the bag was checked, due to the extent of liquid items inside, rather than even being gate-checked.)

Such a limit would allow obviously some reasonably lighter bags, even some with wheels. I figure that a Bad Bags ATB Rollaboard (which I don't own...yet) with my current list would just about hit that 10 kg limit, and, would be surely as heavy a bag as I'd like to lift into an overhead bin. Enforcement as mentioned could be pretty simple. A good digital scale these days is only a few hndred dollars, one at each gate would work.

I think that this is a GOOD idea, adopting not only a NATIONAL STANDARD, but one that adheres to an INTERNATIONAL standard. Now, if only that volcano in Iceland will cut it out...

[Brad]

I should note that many of the international carriers - at least on paper - do not allow for a personal item in addition to the 10kg bag.

http://www.thetravelinsider.com/travelaccessories/internationalcarryonluggageallowances.htm

[Monte]

That's right, they don't. When in India at the Hyderabad airport we were faced with what to do with my small shoulder bag. The ticket agent said I was allowed one item. Out to nowhere appeared several young men, one unzipped my luggage bag, stuffed my shoulder bag in it, two guys stood on top of the big bag and two guys zipped it up. Problem solved in the blink of an eye. Once on the plane I took the small bag out of the larger one and put each in its normal location.

[Buzz]

If the airlines would actually enforce their current carry-on policies, we wouldn't have these problems. But I wouldn't object to a 10/22, 22 x 14 x 9 limits. Of course we won't see it because most FF, the lifeblood of the airlines, like their rolly bags. And with wheels and handles, most rolly bags are bigger than 22 x 14 x 9. And will weigh more than 22 lbs.

[Brad]

Buzz - you're right. It wouldn't happen unless first class and high level FFs could get around it somehow...

[Sam]

Totally agree with this proposal. It's not the actual size of the bags that is the problem it is what people are loading them down with. A 50 lb rolling case is not nearly as dangerous coming out of an overhead than a 15 lb (or far less) soft sided bag for instance. At my MOST overpacked I don't top 22 lbs, nor would I ever let myself travel that heavy. I think this would be much easier to enforce than the "only fits under the seat in front of you" rule as people really can't argue or dispute and measurements don't have to be finicky, you just weigh the thing.

Personally I hope this is the tack that other airlines would take rather than going down Spirit's road. Not that I find the occasion that often, but I will definitely be avoiding Spirit of possible.

[Phil]

Why not just ban wheeled luggage as carryon? If it has wheels, you gotta check it. Gives people an incentive to use smaller, lighter bags. Will make for much quicker planing/deplaning.

[Frank@OBOW]

Phil, I doubt that banning wheels would "fly" - people love them too much and some people have physical problems that geuninely necessitate their use. Politically, a weight limit would sell better than a wheel ban. People don't really know how much their bags weigh now, but they know they love wheelies.

[backpack]

There would be no problem if everybody was asked to put their bag in the measuring device.

But, gate agents from most flagship airlines love to use power trip to randomly force people to gate check their bags and I can assure you that the targets are not the business crowd.

I have read countless complaints from parents and seniors traveling in the "freight with oxygen area" of the plane asked to gate check their carryons for no reason, some stated that there was still room in the overhead bins when they boarded.

It is well known that a piece luggage checked with a flagship airline is more likely to get lost than to arrive at its destination, even when a passenger has to pay for the "service".

[JulieH]

I think that most of these problems can be avoided at the check-in gate - all bags should be weighed and then tagged as acceptable. Heavy items, such as duty-free liquor bottles, should be put it under the seat. Also, why aren't the overhead bins more secure? They shouldn't pop open during flight. There is more than enough room for everyone to bring a reasonable amount of carry-on each flight.

[flerdle]

Internationally, 10kg is positively massive, from this side of the globe. You'll be asked to check in anything over 7 to 8kg - there is a guy just before customs here in Melbourne to turn you around, and he DOES. Normally the person checking you in will weigh your hand luggage and sometimes to tag it acceptable, although this can be a little hit and miss.

Domestically, most people only take 41" bags, although you are allowed 2 with Qantas, who are the most generous (google qantas cabin baggage to see). Our only other airlines are Virgin blue, jetstar and tiger (who are rather like ryanair).

I think we generally don't carry as much stuff as yon north americans :-) .

[Brad K]

On an entirely selfish level, I support the weight limit (or a total volume limit), but in my work, I often give poster presentations at meetings, and thus carry a poster tube onto planes, typically as the personal item. Being 40+ inches long, it obviously does not fit the required dimensions, but it weighs almost nothing, and being very skinny fits in the back of the overhead bins where it is too narrow for anyone's bag to go. It is very nice not to have to risk checking it and have the tube lost, and luckily no one has questioned me on the dimensions so far.