Pack of Proposals on Carry-On Bags
The issue of how much carry-on luggage you can take on flights has taken a new turn, and the public is invited to comment on a new Federal Aviation Administration proposal.
After turning down a plan suggested by the Assn. of Flight Attendants, which called for the FAA to require airline check-in or boarding-gate personnel to measure and reject extra or oversize items, the FAA came up with a different proposal.
Current FAA rules mandate only that carry-on luggage be put away properly, but it’s up to each airline to set up its own policies. The FAA has no guidelines on the number or size of carry-on items. Nor are there standard rules for screening such baggage by check-in or boarding-gate agents.
Consequently, carry-on luggage has included TV sets, truck tires, cellos and surfboards and created potential safety problems. Improperly stowed items could become dislodged in turbulence, injuring passengers or crew. Or loose and large items could impede evacuation of planes.
The New Proposal
Under the new FAA proposal, each airline would create its own policies, following FAA guidelines. The airlines’ policies could vary from airport to airport, depending on type of aircraft, security provisions, gate and terminal fixtures, etc. These policies also would include the training of station personnel and cabin crew to handle carry-on baggage.
The airlines, approximately 140, would have to individually submit their proposed policies to the FAA for approval.
Another proposal calls for a ground-based airline employee (not a crew member, but a member of the ground crew) to scan carry-on luggage before passengers board, and then board the plane to make sure that the carry-on bags have been properly stored.
Currently, airlines rely on flight attendants to monitor carry-on luggage. This system, the FAA said, means that the cabin crew may be distracted from required pre-flight safety duties while finding storage space, even if in inappropriate areas.
Obviously, the airlines want their planes to take off on time.
Response to Rejection
Matt Finucane, safety coordinator for the flight attendants’ association which represents about 22,000 cabin personnel, responded to the FAA’s rejection of the association’s plan and the FAA’s new proposal.
“This watered-down proposal is almost as weak as possible,” he said, “while still being better than nothing.”
However, Finucane said the provision for a ground crew member to verify proper storage of carry-on items is important. “This is probably the most beneficial part of the program. It means that the plane’s doors can’t be closed before this person has made sure everything is right. Previously, the plane’s door could be shut and then the cabin crew might find, particularly with the last passengers to board, that there wasn’t enough room for all the carry-on bags or that there were some things that shouldn’t have been in the passenger cabins in the first place.
Safety First
“One of our basic concerns,” Finucane said, “is that this proposal reintroduces competition in an area where safety should be paramount. Airlines may, if this system is adopted, create policies which involve the lowest costs for them and which are least restrictive or offensive to their passengers. This sort of approach would really create the least effective system.
“Another basic concern is that with so many airlines having individual policies, it may be difficult for passengers to know what they can and can’t do, especially when interline flights are involved. There’s a large potential for confusion.”
Different Methods
For example, Finucane said, one airline might use a volume or dimension method to measure carry-on luggage, another may choose a piece system, and another might opt for weight restrictions. Or an airline might use any combination of these methods.
Lack of uniformity among the airlines would also make it more difficult for FAA inspectors to monitor implementation of the assorted carrier policies, Finucane said. “The FAA’s program calls for the ground personnel to scan carry-on bags. But what does scan really mean? To what extent would carry-on baggage really be screened, especially when a fully booked wide-bodied jet is involved?”
Finucane said the association will continue to push for a stricter and more uniform system which has more safety and security benefits. The association’s plan had called for passengers to only be allowed items that can fit into a 9x16x20-inch space, underneath a seat or in an overhead rack. However, passengers would still have been able to take aboard more than one piece of luggage as long as the items fit into that space. One garment bag, no more than three inches thick, would also have been permitted.
Send your comments on the FAA proposal, by July 28, to: FAA, Docket 24996, 800 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20591.
