Unions Urge Airline Baggage Limits

Flight attendants called on the Federal Aviation Administration to set industrywide guidelines limiting carry-on luggage, saying excessive baggage in the overhead bins poses a safety threat. “We want legislation, instead of pitting agents against each other and pitting airlines against each other,” Lonny Glover of the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents 20,000 American Airlines employees, said at a news conference. The union recommends limiting carry-ons to two pieces of 20 pounds or less each. Current regulations allow each airline to set its own policies, a practice unions say discourages competing airlines from taking the hard line. The Assn. of Flight Attendants, which represents 42,000 employees on 27 carriers, also called for the industry guidelines.