Air Canada Carry-On Baggage Blitz

[Kip Powick]

CBC TV is reporting that starting 01 October there will be scrutinizing all carry - on baggage to ensure it conforms to SIZE as well as NUMBER of PIECES

Related Link.................

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/checked-bag-fees-may-heighten-carry-on-chaos-1.2781470

[AMEfirst]

I feel for the gate agents who will have to police the boarding process. My last trip through YZ from UL was a full flight.

The worst offenders were commuting crews with 3 bags each who were boarded first and took considerable bin space. Several of them getting on ahead priority boarding. All those crew tagged bags and you want to tell the revenues that they'll have to gate check a bag.

Aim at foot and shoot

[internet]

But the shareholders will be so much happier with a $25 first bag fee! Won't someone please think of the shareholders!

[st27]

Easy solution... put a height restricting bar on the belt when the bags get x-rayed...that would cut down on 50% of oversized carry on.

[Homerun]

AMEfirst, were they deadheading crews or commuters? Commuters must comply with the same baggage restrictions as passengers but it is different for deadhead. For example, a pilots flight bag does not count toward any restrictions and I believe the FA's have one piece exempt as well. I agree the optics don't look good but AC makes the rules.

[AMEfirst]

They were not in uniform so maybe commuters. DH or otherwise, company employees taking up the valuable bin space does not look good during a campaign of this nature.

[Homerun]

AMEfirst, I agree. But if you are on company business, on a 3,4,5 day trip and you have one bag full of company manuals that you are required to have with you, then what is the alternative? The pilot flight bag is exempt.

[AMEfirst]

I was trying not to say, but they were Flt Atts.

[thor]

I sure wish WestJet would do that as well.

[Thebean]

Everyone is waiting to see who amongst the major US airlines will be the first to implement a fee for overhead bin space. Once that Pandora's Box is opened, it will spread like wildfire.

Checking for size and weight has to be done at a central, brutally impartial location and that pretty much means at security. Oversized cabin baggage fees that provide no incentive to try beat the checked bag fee combined with the reality that bags checked under this arrangement could be delayed bag will have to be introduced.

Airport Authorities and other agencies have gleefully shoved all the costs / taxes / fees and resultant consumer ire on to the airlines.

They take a "who, me?" approach when it comes time to be the bearer of anything that even has a sniff of "bad news". As much as they typically claim to be "partners" with airlines and even on occasion, make representations that passengers are "their customers", the moment anything that might cause annoyance or controversy appears on the horizon, they run to the hills and foist it on the airlines.

Airport Authorities and others are going to have to collectively grow a pair and deal with this issue. If they want the big paychecks associated with running a consumer focussed business, they are going to have to learn how not to be librarians, whose job it is to hand out free stuff and rarely have to deal with the darker side of what is basically a retail business.

The situation on any US flight I've been on in recent years approaches absurd. I don't see it playing out any differently in Canada.

Staff will become baggage cops, aircraft interiors will be banged up and expensive delays will occur over the relocation of a couple hundred bucks worth of bag fees collected on the offending incremental bags that won't fit into bins.

The problem for most airline revenue junkies is they can easily quantify the revenue from bag fees but they have great difficulty quantifying the cost of delays, aircraft interior repairs and the impact the change has on culture and day to day wear and tear on their employees.

Without a comprehensive solution to the problem, which will inevitably have to include CATSA and the LAA's proactive cooperation, the consumer air travel experience is going to become worse before it becomes better.

[Zan Vetter]

I don't see the big deal, isn't this only going to affect "5%" of passengers? /sarcasm Hahahahahahahahahaha yes we knew that was complete bullshit too. Airlines brings this on themselves and this isn't even the first rodeo on this topic! Delays, trashed cabins, **bleep** off customers and sorry bean but I disagreen but for once this has nothing to do with the airport authority. This is interal all the way. A carry on blitz is required...to catch the percentage of the 5% who are affected? So what's that, perhaps 2-3% of passengers? Surely a blitz isn't required....

[Seeker]

Aarrgh! This drives me crazy. We just keep going around in circles; the extra bag fee produces extra revenue but causes delays, passenger angst and damage to aircraft interiors. Just add an extra 10 bucks to the ticket fee and give a "free" first bag. Will anyone even notice or care if the ticket costs $420 instead of $410? No, but people sure notice the hassle and aggravation the extra carryons cause.

Bean, regarding your soup example, I think you're using the wrong comparison - this isn't a case of pay for soup if you want soup, what we're talking about is the crackers for the soup. I don't care if there are passengers who aren't using the checked bag service - if don't want to check a bag, fine, but it's included and your benefit can be that everyone else boards faster and easier.

In my youth I worked as a waiter at a restaurant where the owner decided he was going to charge 10 cents for the little packet of jam when someone ordered toast so instead of $1.60 for toast with "free" jam it was $1.50 for toast and 10 cents extra if you wanted jam - what a nightmare. This kind of BS angers people far beyond the cost.

[CanadaEH]

Disagree or not, charging for first bag is the new reality. What are we going to do to address the challenges that we are going to face? Bitching and moaning does nothing. Good on AC for being proactive and starting the education process early.

[vanishing point]

Why Oct 1st? Shouldn't the carry-on baggage policy have been enforced all this time? What's the point of those shiny chrome racks at the check-in counter that just collect dust and look pretty?

As mentioned, add the bag cost to the ticket price and move along. Oh wait.....everyone wants to know where every dime is going now....never mind..

[CanadaEH]

What's the point of those shiny chrome racks at the check-in counter that just collect dust and look pretty?

I always wondered the same thing. I've never seen anyone use it. As far as I can tell, the CSA's at the Airport do a shitty job of checking the sizes, although in their defence many people bypass check-in altogether by checking in online or by using the kiosks.

[boestar]

Why Oct 1st? Shouldn't the carry-on baggage policy have been enforced all this time? What's the point of those shiny chrome racks at the check-in counter that just collect dust and look pretty?

As mentioned, add the bag cost to the ticket price and move along. Oh wait.....everyone wants to know where every dime is going now....never mind..

Exactly the reason I like shopping in the UK. Price you see is the price you pay. no figuring out taxes and such. I really wish they would do that here.

[Seeker]

I always wondered the same thing. I've never seen anyone use it. As far as I can tell, the CSA's at the Airport do a shitty job of checking the sizes, although in their defence many people bypass check-in altogether by checking in online or by using the kiosks.

It's a chicken an egg problem, if you start tasking the CSAs with policing the bags then other passengers will complain that they have to spend extra time standing in line. I once witnessed a huge shouting match, happened to be Westjet check in line but could have happened anywhere, between a woman and a manager when she was told she had missed her flight - she argued that she had spent a half hour in line waiting to check in and that the flight should have waited for her! The checkin staff just wants to move the line as fast as possible, CATSA wants their line to move as fast as possible, the gate wants to get their line moving and it all falls to the FAs to sort it out.

[Seeker]

Exactly the reason I like shopping in the UK. Price you see is the price you pay. no figuring out taxes and such. I really wish they would do that here.

That's the reason we have the problem to begin with - tickets cost too much, as far as the passenger is concerned, because all the taxes and fees are included in the final price. The feeling is that he airlines are charging too much when 30% of what the passenger actually pays is going to the government or airport authority.

[Thebean]

Exactly the reason I like shopping in the UK. Price you see is the price you pay. no figuring out taxes and such. I really wish they would do that here.

A horrible policy that results in governments being able to layer tax upon tax upon tax on any item without the knowledge of consumers

Most people in Canada would be stunned to realize the airline receives just $99 of their $185 fare from YVR to LAS. The government and quasi-gov't organizations take the rest. Then the airline takes the blame for "rip off fares".

Why would we acquiesce to allow this tax grab to further occur ?

I want to know what the taxman is lifting out of my jeans. Don't you?

[DEFCON]

I've always believed the FA's have the most difficult job in the industry by far. This mess, like all the others the marketeers create, fall quite unfairly into their laps.

[deicer]

Awwrite, I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but allow me to put forth another way of looking at this....

To combat the problems of first bag fees, and possible fees for cabin bags, I see that it needs a complete marketing change.

Instead of tacking on costs, come out and say that it costs 'X' dollars to go from A to B.

Deduct $25 if you don't check in a bag, deduct $25 if you don't have anything more that a purse or small back pack as carry on, and if someone has more than one bag, make them pay by the pound.

Clear and up front.

[vanishing point]

I've always believed the FA's have the most difficult job in the industry by far. This mess, like all the others the marketeers create, fall quite unfairly into their laps.

Agreed. They don't have anyone downhill to pass on the issue of carry-on bags so they're stuck with the task of trying to get everyone in their seats with their baggage stowed.

If those higher up the hill were actually doing their jobs, it would never get to the FA's. I know...I know.... "Miss, reality check please".

I seem to recall it wasn't all that long ago when an individual purchased a ticket to go somewhere and that price included a reserved seat and a known limitation on carry-on and checked luggage. The price had all the fees and taxes included.

In this day-and-age of openness, a consumer wants the cheapest air fare and to know exactly what they paying for but now reluctant to have to pay for the extras......which were already added in in the past!

[UpperDeck]

I feel for the gate agents who will have to police the boarding process. My last trip through YZ from UL was a full flight.

The worst offenders were commuting crews with 3 bags each who were boarded first and took considerable bin space. Several of them getting on ahead priority boarding. All those crew tagged bags and you want to tell the revenues that they'll have to gate check a bag.

Aim at foot and shoot

Notwithstanding the "like" of FA@AC, I call "BS" on this one. In this first post, it is said that the "worst offenders" were commuting crews. Remember---this on the poster's last trip from YUL to YYZ. In a further supplementary post, it is confirmed that these "offenders" were not in uniform. It was a "full flight". These "presumed commuters" were 1) boarded first; and, 2) several of them got on "ahead priority boarding" (sic).

Can we all agree that "commuters" are simply non-revenue standby passengers? Can we also all agree that NR pax may be assigned a seat before commencement of boarding but often on full flights, are assigned seats during the boarding process. If assigned a seat before boarding commences, then that NR pax will "assume the position" in line waiting his/her turn to board.

Unless, of course, all of these "commuting standby pax" were actually vacationing employees using their "J" incentive pass---and this "full flight" was only full in "Y" and all of those vacationing pax had "J" seats and were coincidentally going somewhere exotic via YYZ. That's it!! That explains it all! They were entitled to board in priority and to load the forward bins with their roll-aboard; satchel; and, large purse.

[DEFCON]

"They don't have anyone downhill to pass on the issue of carry-on bags so they're stuck with the task of trying to get everyone in their seats with their baggage stowed."

.....and on time.

[Don Hudson]

Not that anyone really cares, but for cons, (contingent passengers, employee pass-travellers retired or not), there is an additional problem. If flights are really full, then checking luggage shuts down all your alternatives and either you make it on or you're quite possibly stuck for the day. So pass-travelling always means packing small (within the permitted size limits), and carrying your two bags on, period.

Now, we travelled Delta a while back out of Richmond to Atlanta and they have the same problem but even worse - people carrying everything on, because of the charges. The gate agents were pleading (very nicely) with people to "gate-check" their bags as overhead-space was at a premium. Now this made sense because it solved the problem of keeping your luggage if you don't get on. We gate-checked the bags which opened space for others and gave us foot-room.

When exercising the privilege of pass travel I don't care about the charge, I care about getting on, and checking luggage limits one's options. Checking luggage at the gate once one has one's boarding pass, solves that problem, and it worked flawlessly with Delta. They had a machine that prints the luggage tags right at the gate.