Carry-On Baggage Should Be Eliminated

For too long, commercial airline passengers have been permitted to haul aboard all shapes and sizes of carry-on baggage which should be carried in the plane’s cargo compartment. Instead of merely restricting the numbers and size of this baggage, the FAA and individual airlines should ban carry-on items altogether.

Yes, there would be minor inconveniences for passengers; they would all need to claim their baggage at the final destination. However, the time saved by being able to board and deplane in an efficient and expeditious manner would compensate for that.

For security, federal sky marshals should travel on each flight. And passengers should boycott airlines which continue to permit the dangerous “carry-on” practice.

Richard and Karlyn Carson

Studio City

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A basic problem with airline safety, as mentioned in your Sept. 13 editorial, is that the security at airports is handled by the airlines themselves and not by the government. This is not the case in Germany, Switzerland and other European countries where highly trained security employees monitor each passenger. On a British Airlines flight I had to check a cheese tray that I was bringing to a wedding because it contained a small cheese spreader.

How many times has the metal detector gone off when I walked through it for a U.S. domestic flight (because of a belt buckle or watch) and I was asked to “walk through it again.” What is that supposed to prove? Minimum-wage pay will not hire sufficiently trained security personnel.

Fred A. Rosenberg

Thousand Oaks