Pack less or pay the airline luggage fee
Try to find a place for a computer you’ve carried on the plane as your one piece of luggage.
People are in the aisles trying to smash full-size suitcases in overhead bins. They’re blocking the aisle. Stewards and stewardesses are relegated to acting like playground supervisors, asking people to step aside so other passengers can board and find their seats.
The passengers with over-sized luggage didn’t pay the fee, $20 or so, to check their bag. Do you ever wonder why we have rules?
The passengers with too many and oversize bags are uncivil. They’re disruptive to the passengers who paid to check their luggage. Their luggage may be a safety hazard. They are an impediment to a plane departing on schedule.
U.S. airlines don’t have rules or do little to enforce rules about number of carry-on pieces, weight or size. That needs to change unless people can police themselves.
Until that happens, I encourage you to take the path of civility. Pack less or check your luggage. Civility or money—which is more important?
Comments
Last week we were returning from a conference in Rochester, NY. Weather had delayed a plane's arrival, which meant our departure to Chicago also was delayed. The pilots did their best to get us to ORD for our connecting flights, but the late arrival there meant some people had less than 10 min to catch their next flight and some others (including us) had maybe 15 min. Amazingly, other passengers on the flight stayed seated and let those of us with little time leave the plane first. We made our flight, and my fellow passengers made my day.
Posted by: Sherry | November 5, 2009 09:46 AM