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Checked bag fees lead to cabin chaos
Airline passengers on a plane open the overhead bins
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Steve Chiotakis: Oh, how times have changed in the friendly skies. We used to get all kinds of things included with an plane ticket: meals, pillows, blankets, our luggage on the flight. Some in the airline industry say the advent of
bag fees has led to some unintended consequences. And they want Congress to step in and help.
Marketplace's Rico Gagliano reports.
Rico Gagliano: What happens when airlines charge people to check their bags? According to flight attendants, people just carry more bags onto the plane.
Bill McGlashen is with the AFA -- America's largest flight attendants union.
BILL MCGLASHEN: We're seeing more bags, and we're seeing larger bags. They might not wanna pay the fee, so they're bringing them all on board, and it's simply causing chaos in the cabin.
The AFA recently conducted a survey of attendants on 22 different airlines. 80% of them reported overhead bins -- overstuffed with heavy bags -- are causing injury to attendants and to passengers.
MCGLASHEN: They identified seeing, on a daily basis, passengers being hit on the head, passengers tripping.
All of which led the AFA this week to call for Congress to pass a bill called the Securing Cabin Baggage Act. It would do two things: Set a maximum size for any carry-on bag and force the TSA guards to make sure extra or oversize bags never make it past security checkpoints.
CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT: No, it wouldn't work.
Christopher Elliott is the Reader Advocate for National Geographic Traveler Magazine. And while he says the number one cause of fights on planes is scarce luggage space, he's not sure this bill is the best way to solve the problem.
ELLIOTT: The TSA is screening people for security. You cannot expect a TSA agent to count bags.
The airlines oppose regulation too. They say since every plane has different storage bin sizes, one mandatory carry-on size will not fit all. So what's the solution? Chris Elliott has a suggestion...
ELLIOTT: You have to go back to allowing people to check at least one bag for free.
But with the airlines earning billions from bag fees, Elliott admits that change may be slow in coming.
In Los Angeles, I'm Rico Gagliano for Marketplace.
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The airlines created the problem, let them solve it. Not to mention pay for flight attendant and passenger injuries from oversized and improperly stowed bags in the cabin.
The charges for checked luggage (mind you, they don't charge for GOING OVER a reasonable basic amount, but for ANY checked luggage) are really a just convenience fee for not having to lug your bags around the terminal for a few hours. The payoff: waiting in a crowd at the end of your travels, waiting for your bag and trying not to be jostled by other flyers. (sigh) Those who don't want to be subjected to the ordeal of overcrowded baggage claim areas, carry their bags, gate check the big ones, and carry onboard a personal item. The airlines didn't see this coming? Bah, I don't believe it.
The solution is, as others have posted, simple. Just allow 1-2 checked bags for free, charge a nominal fee (< $15, puh-lease) for gate checking, and enforce stringent carry-on restrictions at the gate (not TSA Checkpoint Charlie). It's not TSA's problem (or mission), let's not make it the TSA areas any more frustrating than they already are.
Like Jerry said: They are incentivizing this behavior themselves! If you make something free (carryons) and something else expensive (checked luggage) people are going to go for the FREE OPTION. Hello, how was it not obvious this was going to happen.
Answer: Charge for carryons that can't fit under the seat and make the first checked bag free. Control freaks will still refuse to check their bags and pay up; the rest of us will happily check our bags. Problem solved.
I wish there was Amtrak service in my region. I would much prefer to travel by train. But I'm stuck with flying for longer trips. It's just no fun anymore, and if you don't have a high-mileage frequent-flier account, you're treated like a second-class citizen by the airline (on top of being treated like a potential terrorist by the TSA). And I resent the ever-increasing fees--make the first bag free and raise the airfare if necessary. Duh.
Flying has become a nightmare, and it is only getting worse. The solution for me? Amtrak. It is more comfortable and less hassle. Once more Americans try Amtrak, I think they will become converts like me. The airlines are inflicting their own wounds on themselves.
How about letting people who have no additional bags(other than a purse or backpack) be the first to board and first off the plane when it lands. It is a small but nice incentive for getting to your seat without waiting for others with large baggage.
The process of flying has become so stressful and unpleasant in every respect especially since 9/11 that one has to wonder at its popularity. Much business can be more easily and cost effectively transacted over phone, email and video conferencing, at least for a considerable range of tasks in “knowledge†industries. In any case, it’s amusing to observe the contortions wrought by market forces on the industries. If airlines in the U.S. had to compete with high-speed rail similar to the TGV in France or bullet trains in Japan I suspect that the airlines would be a much smaller industry.
It should be up to the airline to limit the customers' carry on items. If they are too many or too big, make the passengers gate check and charge a fee if you like. There was an NPR story recently that discussed the increased rate of prohibited items getting through security when TSA agents had to examine more bags. I would imagine that having to count or measure bag size would have the same effect. It is a security risk.
I agree this is a problem. I happened to catch a laptop as it was falling onto someone's head recently. Luckily it was a little thing, but it fell out of the overstuffed overhead baggage compartment.
It's really out of control with all the stuff people are bringing. It seems like everyone has a laptop case, a purse or bag, and a suitcase. I would suggest a penalty for gate checking when a person gets on the plane with an oversized item or a 3rd bag. I don't know how they would enforce it though.
I had to fly for business recently. With some creative folding, I got three days of clean underwear, a few outfits, and all my toiletries (in government approved sized bottles) into one medium sized carry on bag. Wearing the same suit for three days straight makes you feel like you're back in college, trying avoid paying to do laundry. One checked bag would have solved that problem entirely, but I couldn't justify the cost.
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