IATA clarifies its carry-on proposal

Thanks, Frank!

I resent that "oddball European" crack!

As a sidetone, the writer’s own standard carry-on bag is even smaller than the published Cabin OK dimensions, but the writer is an oddball European.

Re "oddbal European". Term seems to be the article writer's self-identification.

Edgar, you're right. The writer was referring to herself.

She wrote this as a FAQ to make it easier to understand. I read the actual press release put out by IATA and it is extra wordy.

But in case anyone wants to actually read it, here it is:

IATA Press Release

Frank II,

If any of the airlines actually decide to adopt and enforce the new regulations, several of the Tom Bihn items will be too large especially when they're fully loaded (ie: TriStar, AeroNaut 30 & 45, etc.). I suspect the RS Convertible Carry-On and EC Weekender will also likely fail the sizing test, and the Red Oxx Air Boss will most certainly fail. Who knows, they may have already ordered new sizing frames which may be appearing in an airport near you very soon.

A soft sided bag can usually be made to fit. True, if packed to the gills it may not. But in most cases, they will.

The only airlines that are adopting the IATA rules are the ones that already have some type of restrictive sizing/weight.

I'm not too worried.

The aim of the IATA proposal was a minimum standard, where if you bought a bag conforming to it then there would be no question that it would be acceptable to all of its members as a carry on. It wasn't intended that all airlines would be somehow restricted down to only allowing that size. The original report I saw was quite clear on that point but maybe it got garbled through the media retelling.

Frank II,

I just read a note in today's paper that the IATA has decided to shelve the proposals for new carry-on dimensions for now. They indicated that "interest has been intense but there has been confusion and concerns raised in the media and by key stakeholders." They also said that while many carriers welcomed the initiative, some like Air Canada and WestJet said they would not be reducing carry-on sizes.

I guess we'll have to stay tuned to see whether this new initiative will "fly" (pun intended).

That announcement was made a few days ago. Mostly because no North American airline would comply and backlash by the flying public and the media.

I suspect they'll try again at some point in the future. In the meantime, the new larger overhead bins may arrive from Boeing which may partially alleviate the problem.

The new, larger bins are already being phased in on some newer models of 737's. Airbus is also introducing larger bins.

That's another reason people questioned the IATA proposal. They said they worked with airlines to come up with the new dimensions of "allowed" bags when the airplane manufacturers already announced new, larger bins.

It's all about the money.

I'll say they back tracked. As I've stated in prior post on the subject. If the airlines would follow their own policy about bag size this wouldn't be an issue.

as a convenience, since it's mostly locked, I'll post excerpts from a WSJ article on this subject:

The reality on carry-on baggage: Airlines are promising something they can’t deliver.

Passengers are told they each get to put one bag in the overhead bin. But the math doesn’t work anymore. Boeing Co. says big bins on its 737-900, available to airlines since 2002, can accommodate 125 roll-aboard bags, for example. But the airplane has about 180 seats.

No room at the bin has become one of the biggest customer-service issues in the skies as airlines pack more people onto each plane. It boiled over when an international airline group earlier this month proposed reducing carry-on-baggage size limits. The proposal was quickly rejected after a firestorm of traveler protest. Now inadequate overhead-storage space remains an unsolved source of passenger anxiety and flight delays ...........

passengers feel pressured to pay additional fees for early boarding just so they can get on the plane early enough to find space for their bags. Flights get delayed because flight attendants and gate agents are tagging a dozen or more bags that won’t fit onboard to send them down to baggage handlers to be thrown into the belly of the plane.

Scrambling for a solution, the International Air Transport Association, an airline-run trade association, proposed world-wide guidelines that would shrink maximum carry-on sizes by about 21%, forcing travelers to either purchase new bags or resort to checking bags routinely for trips. IATA wanted luggage makers to label bags that met the guidelines as “Cabin OK” so flight attendants and gate agents could easily identify which bags were legal and which ones might exceed airline size limits.

Travelers complained airlines would force them to pay to solve a problem airlines created. Some in Congress called for regulations forcing airlines to allow larger carry-on bags than the IATA limits.

IATA shelved the idea. A spokesman for the group, which sets global standards for the industry on issues like ticketing and safety, declined to comment.

Air France has cabin luggage-size limits 1 inch shorter in length and width than SkyTeam partner Delta. Within the Star Alliance, Lufthansa and Singapore airlines limit coach passengers to one piece of carry-on luggage instead of the traditional one bag plus a personal item that United allows. Singapore has a 7-kilogram weight limit (about 15 pounds) for the one bag; Lufthansa says it can’t be heavier than 8 kilograms (about 18 pounds).

“We give away the most valuable space on the airplane—the overhead bin—and we charge for the least expensive space — in the belly,” Virgin America Chief Executive David Cush pointed out to an industry audience at the Phoenix Aviation Symposium in May. Virgin is unlikely to change its policy, however.

Delta’s trial program to let airline staff load passengers’ carry-on bags, called Early Valet, is currently being tested on about 100 flights a day and the airline plans to add more over the next two weeks. In theory, airline workers could load the bags faster than passengers and with less wasted space. Delta says it is too soon to say what time savings Early Valet may generate.

Interesting quote by David Cush in last post. Maybe the solution is just to guarantee one free bag of any size for check-in, allow one personal carry on item less than 12 inches long (or whatever the dimensions are for current personal items) and charge for any carry on bigger than that up to 21 inches, subject to availability. It always seem to me that having the right to bring all your luggage into the cabin is a privilege to you but an inconvenience to the other passengers and crew.