4 ms·

Airlines don't just sell the tickets. They sell convenience and comfort. And they have to mediate a limited resource shared by passengers: overhead bin space.

Airlines don't just sell the tickets. They sell convenience and comfort. And they have to mediate a limited resource shared by passengers: overhead bin space. So they want premium customers to get dibs on overhead bin space, which means letting them board first. The slowest part of boarding sometimes is the tail (economy and late-arrivals) looking for bin space, or worse, having to bring their carry-on back to the door for gate checking. To make boarding faster the airlines will first have to commit to not letting economy passengers have carry-on. Until they are willing to do this, there will be no improvement.

MereInterest 7y ago
> And they have to mediate a limited resource shared by passengers: overhead bin space. If only there were other places that luggage could be stored. Somewhere for larger bags that aren't needed during the flight. Somewhere that could be loaded independently of the passenger door. If such a place existed, airlines could give incentives to have passengers place baggage there instead of overhead. Or airlines could do the exact opposite, charge extra for the less convenient method, and slow down the boarding process as a result.
- ApolloFortyNine 7y ago
  >charge extra for the less convenient method Not having to wait for my bag when I get off the plane, and having 0 chance of losing the bag, is worth quite a bit. And by charging, they do reduce the number of people with them. Source: The overheads on Spirit (which only allows a personal item) always have space, even on full flights.
- cryptonector 7y ago
  I'm a frequent flyer. I'll pay extra for carry-on space if need be (and I do, every time, even when flying airlines where I have no frequent flyer status). Checking luggage for me means: risking loss/theft, spending extra time (money) checking it and then waiting for it at the carousel. I often fly with two laptops and I don't want to make my backpack too heavy, but also I don't want to check either laptop.
lcfcjs2 7y ago
Nonsense. There can be plenty of small improvements done without prohibiting carry-ons. Absolute rubbish.
ghaff 7y ago
>will first have to commit to not letting economy passengers have carry-on. Some do in a limited way. The lowest tier of economy (I think United calls it Economy Basic, aka steerage minus) allows you a "personal item"--which you basically have to allow because you can't force people to check medicines, etc.--but no carry-on.
throwaway287391 7y ago
It's really odd to me that airlines decided to charge for checked bags rather than overhead bin storage. Even before it was common to charge for checked bags, almost everyone I've ever met preferred carry-ons whenever possible. And when they "enforce" carry-on bag size limits, the worst thing they'll do is gate-check your bag for free, which is still much better than checking a bag and having to wait there half an hour for it to show up on the carousel anxiously wondering whether you were the lucky one whose baggage they lost today. (Hell, it's arguably the best case scenario, though does still cost you a few minutes waiting.) It's like they go out of their way to give me every possible incentive to be that obnoxious person that always brings his obviously oversized on every flight.
- cryptonector 7y ago
  I agree! The airlines would do better to offer free checking for one bag and charge a fee for carry-on (and not oversell carry-on space). Then they could shave off a minimum of 5 minutes for boarding, and maybe much more (10 minutes? 15?). Saving 10 minutes in boarding time may mean one more flight/day for some routes.
  - sjg007 7y ago
    Southwest should do this. They are almost the most optimized airline since you can have 2 bags free and a psuedo random boarding process. I imagine that overhead bin space is probably not as contentious on Southwest flights anyway.
benhurmarcel 7y ago
Ryanair solved that problem by charging for having a carry-on. They only sell the space they have.

MereInterest 7y ago

> And they have to mediate a limited resource shared by passengers: overhead bin space. If only there were other places that luggage could be stored. Somewhere for larger bags that aren't needed during the flight. Somewhere that could be loaded independently of the passenger door. If such a place existed, airlines could give incentives to have passengers place baggage there instead of overhead. Or airlines could do the exact opposite, charge extra for the less convenient method, and slow down the boarding process as a result.

ApolloFortyNine 7y ago
>charge extra for the less convenient method Not having to wait for my bag when I get off the plane, and having 0 chance of losing the bag, is worth quite a bit. And by charging, they do reduce the number of people with them. Source: The overheads on Spirit (which only allows a personal item) always have space, even on full flights.
cryptonector 7y ago
I'm a frequent flyer. I'll pay extra for carry-on space if need be (and I do, every time, even when flying airlines where I have no frequent flyer status). Checking luggage for me means: risking loss/theft, spending extra time (money) checking it and then waiting for it at the carousel. I often fly with two laptops and I don't want to make my backpack too heavy, but also I don't want to check either laptop.

lcfcjs2 7y ago

Nonsense. There can be plenty of small improvements done without prohibiting carry-ons. Absolute rubbish.

ghaff 7y ago

>will first have to commit to not letting economy passengers have carry-on. Some do in a limited way. The lowest tier of economy (I think United calls it Economy Basic, aka steerage minus) allows you a "personal item"--which you basically have to allow because you can't force people to check medicines, etc.--but no carry-on.

throwaway287391 7y ago

It's really odd to me that airlines decided to charge for checked bags rather than overhead bin storage. Even before it was common to charge for checked bags, almost everyone I've ever met preferred carry-ons whenever possible. And when they "enforce" carry-on bag size limits, the worst thing they'll do is gate-check your bag for free, which is still much better than checking a bag and having to wait there half an hour for it to show up on the carousel anxiously wondering whether you were the lucky one whose baggage they lost today. (Hell, it's arguably the best case scenario, though does still cost you a few minutes waiting.) It's like they go out of their way to give me every possible incentive to be that obnoxious person that always brings his obviously oversized on every flight.

cryptonector 7y ago
I agree! The airlines would do better to offer free checking for one bag and charge a fee for carry-on (and not oversell carry-on space). Then they could shave off a minimum of 5 minutes for boarding, and maybe much more (10 minutes? 15?). Saving 10 minutes in boarding time may mean one more flight/day for some routes.
- sjg007 7y ago
  Southwest should do this. They are almost the most optimized airline since you can have 2 bags free and a psuedo random boarding process. I imagine that overhead bin space is probably not as contentious on Southwest flights anyway.

benhurmarcel 7y ago

Ryanair solved that problem by charging for having a carry-on. They only sell the space they have.