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Ac To Try Again At Enforcement Of Cabin Baggage Size Limits


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Or just end this whole farce and go back to what worked for damn near a century.

That'd be nice, but I don't see it happening. All airlines are charging for checked baggage in some fashion or other. Southwest advertises that bags fly free, but their fares now are often higher than legacy carrier fares for those who travel without checked baggage.

The travelling public wanted cheap seats. They got them.

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That's hilarious given North American airlines today have more pricing power and higher barriers to entry than they have had in decades. This is about wall street fetishizing ancillary revenue and the industry feeling obligated to oblige.

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That's hilarious given North American airlines today have more pricing power and higher barriers to entry than they have had in decades.

One can fly roundtrip from North America to India or South Africa for $800-900 nowadays. I don't think baggage fees are unreasonable, although I agree that air travel was more enjoyable before them.

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What does that have to do with this?

The international market is becoming intensely competitive while the North American one is less so with each passing day between the WestJet-Air Canada duopoly and Deltaflot, Parkerflot and Unitedflot in the US it’s actually pretty alarming.

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What does that have to do with this?

What I was getting at is that air travel is cheaper than ever. People are generally unwilling to pay extra for tickets that cover the cost to an airline of checked baggage. They're thus now offered fares that include a generous carry-on allowance, and checked baggage service at a fee.

The majority of customers, i.e. those who live up to their end of the deal and travel with cabin baggage within the stated limits and pay to check anything extra won't experience any hassle under the planned crackdown.

We'll hear plenty in the media from those who currently hog space from everyone else on board. The campaign will probably be short-lived as a result, but it's worth a try.

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Here is the thing, in most any ordinary circumstance an aircraft can accomodate passengers utilizing their traditional baggage allowance. In almost no ordinary circumstance can an aircraft accomodate passengers taking advantage of their "generous carry-on allowance". I was on a rapidair flight in Aug. 2003 that was delayed forever because people had too much **bleep** in the cabin.

It isn't about covering the cost of checked baggage, it's just a stupid way of generating the same ancillary revenue that wall street also demands of cable companies, cell phone companies, hotels and whatever the **bleep** else.

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I think it's a result of ticket prices being lower than ever. I don't see a problem with generating ancillary revenue by charging for checked baggage, or food or seat selection on rock-bottom fares. I'm not aware of an airline in North America that has managed to be profitable over the past decade or so without charging for services other than the seat itself and a cabin baggage allowance.

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So of all the financial wizardry, labour concessions, consolidation, bankruptcies and falling fuel prices the tipping point for viability was baggage fees which has at most airlines turned any mainline departure with a LF greater than 70% into a theatre of the absurd, can grind screening to a standstill and makes the cabin of a brand new 737 look like an L1011 that has been on Hajj duty for the last twenty years.

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The a la carte system of buying an airline ticket isn't going away. If paying for luggage is part of the business, so too should paying to carry on IMO. Only with carry on luggage you should be entitled to one piece not the three or four I see people bringing onboard. I often do day trips and don't carry anything other than a jacket or maybe a laptop with me. When I go for multi-day trips I bring my jacket and a carry on (with my laptop inside). I also see people bring on three or four items with them and have the balls to ask me to move my bag to accommodate.

I am but one person but I think it's time we start charging for carry on baggage. This should be a cost neutral move (lower base ticket prices to compensate) that would equalize the balance of checked vs. carry on luggage to what it once was. The airlines get to keep the extra fees and reap the operational improvements of no gate chaos while the consumer could (if they travel lightly) get a lower fare or pay for bringing more items onboard (if they don't travel lightly).

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Here we go again with the myth of cost neutral as fares will go lower. Never has and never will happen. All we will see is those airlines already making large profits will show larger profits..... If the charges were indeed cost neutral then most North American carriers would not have recorded large gains in their profit margins attributed to these fees.

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The a la carte system of buying an airline ticket isn't going away. If paying for luggage is part of the business, so too should paying to carry on IMO. Only with carry on luggage you should be entitled to one piece not the three or four I see people bringing onboard. I often do day trips and don't carry anything other than a jacket or maybe a laptop with me. When I go for multi-day trips I bring my jacket and a carry on (with my laptop inside). I also see people bring on three or four items with them and have the balls to ask me to move my bag to accommodate.

On the large scale, I don't doubt that. Although I suspect competitive pressures will make it difficult for Alaska, Virgin America and JetBlue to hold the line on it.

The pressure to drive ancillary revenue is immense, strong enough that WestJet and JetBlue pretty enthusiastically soaked their brand equity in kerosene and set them alight at the alter of wall street. The problem with wall street is they see any revenue stream as a permanent entitlement, if it is diminished or goes away that is a debt to be repaid or else. One of my university classmates works in investor relations for one of the big US cellular carriers, investors are still moody that the ancillary revenue stream from ringtone and game sales has gone away. They don't want to hear about data and growing ARPU, they want to hear about replacing the old ancillary revenue streams. This demand becomes the crap carrier provided music and video services nobody wants and you probably can't delete.

But rationalization doesn’t make it any less stupid. I don’t know of any airliner built outside of the Soviet Union where carrying baggage in the cabin was a design assumption. This ridiculous arrangement incentivizes completely irrational behaviour with all sorts of glaringly obvious externalities. If you aren’t putting baggage where it belongs whatever follows is a square peg, round hole scenario. Yet for such a severely disruptive and annoying endeavour it has the luxury of being completely unnecessary.

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Should be an interesting week with the media having little else to talk about.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-s-new-carry-on-crackdown-doomed-to-fail-critics-claim-1.3084335?cmp=rss

Air Canada's new carry-on crackdown doomed to fail, critics claim
They predict passengers are likely to continue pushing limits to try to avoid $25 checked bag fee

By Sophia Harris, CBC News Posted: May 25, 2015 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: May 25, 2015 7:32 AM ET

Today, Air Canada steps up its carry-on crackdown, but critics warn it may not solve the carry-

Sophia Harris
Business reporter

Sophia Harris has worked a

Air Canada is once again targeting passengers who try to sneak on excess carry-on luggage. But critics claim the stepped up crackdown ultimately won't solve the upsurge in on-board bags.

That's because, they say, passengers will continue to push the limits to avoid that new and pesky $25 checked bag fee.

"Everybody just hates to be nickeled and dimed," airline analyst Barry Prentice says.

Starting at Toronto's Pearson International Airport today and then expanding across the country next month, Air Canada agents at both check-in and security will be tagging carry-on that meets size limits. Bags that don't make the cut must be checked.

Passengers not caught until they hit security will be sent back with priority status to check their offending bags.

This is Air Canada's latest attempt to police carry-on, an extension of a campaign that began last fall shortly before it introduced a $25 first checked bag fee for domestic economy flights. As expected, to avoid paying the fee, some passengers started hauling more on board.

Fee avoidance

"It's often a problem and it's been making me crazy lately," says frequent flyer and travel writer Kat Tancock. She says twice recently on Air Canada flights, there was no room left in the overhead bins for her hand luggage so it had to be moved to cargo.

But Tancock doesn't have much faith in a tagging system. She believes some abusers will still sneak through, particularly during busy times, and that the clampdown won't change the human urge to avoid extra baggage fees.

"I doubt it will stop people from trying to push the limits, because they're going to play the game," she says. "People are always going to try to save money."

Even if passengers play by the rules, Prentice believes the carry-on chaos will continue.

The University of Manitoba business professor says the crackdown may force some people to ensure their on-board bags don't exceed size limits. But he adds that passengers will continue to maximize their carry-on allowance to avoid paying the checked bag fee.

"We'll still have everybody trying to bring on as much as they possibly can," Prentice says. "Therefore, I think we'll still have the problem of [too much] carry-on.

Is it really worth it?

'I'm sure it will lead to more arguments and complaints.'
— Barry Prentice, airline analyst

Michel Cournoyer, president of the union representing Air Canada flight attendants, says planes are now constantly delayed because carry-on has to be transferred to cargo when there's no room left in the cabin.

He claims it's causing stress for flight attendants and hopes the new rules will make a difference.

"The Air Canada flight attendants are very much on board with this initiative. We realize the problem it causes and Air Canada wants to be on time for its passengers," he says.

The airline itself has faith the crackdown will lead to positive results. The company says passengers want more overhead room for carry-on and on-time departures.

"Managing carry-on bags consistently for all customers is one way that helps greatly in delivering the best experience for our customers," Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said in an email.

WestJet is already claiming victory with its own carry-on crackdown. The airline says it's been monitoring on-board luggage since it also started charging the $25 domestic checked bag fee for economy flights.

Initially, the airline saw an increase in carry-on, but "since that time we've seen guests adjust their packing habits," spokesman Robert Palmer stated in an email.

WestJet has no plans to step up its policing efforts.

Regardless of the positive claims, Prentice predicts turbulent times ahead. Not only does he believe the Air Canada tagging system won't solve the problem, but also, he worries it will lead to further chaos when passengers are forced to check and pay for oversized bags, sometimes having to trek back from security.

"I'm sure it will lead to more arguments and complaints and I can't think of a method of creating more antagonism and bad customer service relations than doing this," he says.

All for $25?

Prentice believes a better solution would be to get rid of the root cause — the $25 domestic checked bag fee.

"I think it's a real mistake," he concludes.

Air Canada says the latest fee is now "an industry-wide practice," and that it was one of the last North American airlines to start charging it.

Even if the carry-on chaos continues, it's doubtful WestJet or Air Canada would ever consider chucking the charge.

WestJet's net income surged 58 per cent to $140.7 million in the first three months of this year, partly due to higher fees collected from checked luggage and other charges.

Air Canada reported a first quarter adjusted net income of $122 million, the best first-quarter financial performance in the airline's history.

In March, Air Canada's CEO told CBC News that extra fees have become an essential part of the business model.

So with the $25 domestic fee likely to stay on board, it looks like overpacked passengers are left with only a few choices: cough up the cash, pack less, or take their chances. Or find another way to travel.

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Note the position of the baggage laden bins. Imagine having all that come down on you in a crash landing, or trying to get out from underneath it in the allotted 90 seconds.

post-604-0-36198800-1432556722_thumb.jpg

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"My understanding is that gate agents/FA's will only permit bags with 'approved' tags on board"

If that's the case, the system is setting itself up for delays and onboard chaos by using the F/A's as enforcers. Why can't the baggage issues be sorted out properly before the pax boards?

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Today is day one of the new procedures. My carry-on was accepted with no issues. Painless process if you abide by the rules.

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"My understanding is that gate agents/FA's will only permit bags with 'approved' tags on board"

If that's the case, the system is setting itself up for delays and onboard chaos by using the F/A's as enforcers. Why can't the baggage issues be sorted out properly before the pax boards?

If so then how will they deal with connecting passengers from other points / airlines?

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I think that all matters related to the size and weight limitations of carry-on baggage should be determined by regulation and not left to the air carriers to mess with. If the regulators could get their ducks in a row through an organization like ICAO and decide the issues, standardization would benefit all carriers and remove the associated calamity from the boarding process.

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Then you'd have two choices - either force people to carry much smaller bags or install much larger bins on some regional aircraft that can't handle the currently legal sized bags that will fit in others.

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The original coat & hat rack was the right answer in my mind. When bins showed up in aircraft and roller bags became the rage, common sense gave way to convenience and the basis of what was acceptable to be carried in the cabin became a completely confusing matter for the traveling public.

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Well today was the first day as I said and it was painless. When I checked my one checked bag she also checked and weighed my carry-on. Attached an "Approved Carry-On" tag to the handle and I was on my way. She never checked my laptop bag.

There was also a girl at the Security Line checking for the tags and tagging bags that were not checked earlier.

They still did announce that, since the flight was full, they would check cabin baggage at the gate for free. I assume that is what the dozen or so people that lined up were waiting for.

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Last week on this very same routing I had a checked bag. under 10 minutes to retrieve it in Halifax. Over 45 minutes to retrieve it in Toronto.

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A part of the problem is some of our seats don't have any room under them due to the placement of electronics and life vests. Densifying the 777 has resulted in narrower seats and thus narrower under seat stowage. Whatever the case, if everybody carries on the max allowed, even if it all fit in the sizer, it just won't all fit. Winters are the worst due to heavy coats taking up a lot of extra space a well. Do we go so far as to tell people they can't wear their parka to the airport because it takes up too much room? Do we count big coats as a carry on because they take up as much room as a backpack or briefcase?

Hopefully at some point passengers will learn how to pack and not bring the kitchen sink with them when they travel, but until they do we're going to fight an uphill battle because people feel it's their "right" to bring anything they want onboard. People think they need 7 of everything for a week's trip. The training process will be a lengthy one, but if airlines stick to their guns people will be broken of their bad habits eventually. When we became the first airline to ban smoking while our competitors allowed it, we fought with smokers almost every day but eventually everybody adopted the practice and people got used to it. I hope that cabin baggage, and excess baggage in general, becomes a problem we look back on one day like smoking.

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