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Draconian contract agents nabbing carryon / rollaboards at JFK gate
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Morning all,
I'm on a JFK-Caribbean flight this morning, and there is a contract agent stationed on the jet bridge giving everyone the once-over upon boarding and grabbing anything beyond the bag plus one personal item, as well as any rollaboard looking even slightly large. I was carrying my usual rollaboard plus briefcase (still only two items), and the guy gave me a hard time. The only reason I ultimately was allowed to retain my items was that I showed my airport ID. I've never seen this kind of enforcement at the gate, much less the jet bridge.....usually, once you are past the contractors prior to TSA, you are home free as far as carry on enforcement.
As a side note, I was looking forward to having the seat next to me unoccupied (row 9), but just 3 minutes before boarding, the GA announced that there were open exit row seats, and she gave them away for free on a first come, first serve basis. Not sure that is consistent with AA's model of collecting additional revenue for these more desirable seats! (Although I recognize that the GAs have the ultimate power once the flight goes to gate control)
Wirelessly posted (Apple iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_2 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A551 Safari/8536.25)
Morning all,
I'm on a JFK-Caribbean flight this morning, and there is a contract agent stationed on the jet bridge giving everyone the once-over upon boarding and grabbing anything beyond the bag plus one personal item, as well as any rollaboard looking even slightly large. I was carrying my usual rollaboard plus briefcase (still only two items), and the guy gave me a hard time. The only reason I ultimately was allowed to retain my items was that I showed my airport ID. I've never seen this kind of enforcement at the gate, much less the jet bridge.....usually, once you are past the contractors prior to TSA, you are home free as far as carry on enforcement.
As a side note, I was looking forward to having the seat next to me unoccupied (row 9), but just 3 minutes before boarding, the GA announced that there were open exit row seats, and she gave them away for free on a first come, first serve basis. Not sure that is consistent with AA's model of collecting additional revenue for these more desirable seats! (Although I recognize that the GAs have the ultimate power once the flight goes to gate control)
Please write the contract agent up. This is particularly one of the problems I was thinking about when I mentioned outsourced workers degrading the product on another thread. I saw this for the first time a few weeks ago. I was horrified at the way this person spoke to passengers and that there was even a need for him to be there at all. It seems a little counterproductive to me that the passenger made it through TSA and got past the agent with the same bag only to have a non AA employee talking to them like they are less than human as they reach the aircraft door. Then there is the added factor that he was grabbing bags from the first three passengers boarded. Wouldn't you think you would let some people board the plane before you actually start checking bags, especially the first class and premium passengers?
Just so I am clear on the complaint. It is that the employee was rude correct? Not that they were enforcing the rules, right?
If the employee (contract, AA employee or otherwise) is rude then they are out of line. We all deserve a minimum amount of respect as human beings.
If the complaint is that they are enforcing the carry on rules then I have zero problem with it and it should be enforced exactly the location described. Making it past the first line means nothing as I could go on a shopping spree at the airport or have my additional bag stuffed inside and then decide to remove it after making it past the first check. What matters is what you have when you board.
Wouldn't you think you would let some people board the plane before you actually start checking bags, especially the first class and premium passengers?
Why would you do that? I am not aware of any additional carry ons that I get when flying in first class.
Why would you do that? I am not aware of any additional carry ons that I get when flying in first class.
Probably because providing a good service to premium passengers is a key to legacy airlines actually making money. And the goal is to make money rather than just enforce rules, right?
I'm on a JFK-Caribbean flight this morning, and there is a contract agent stationed on the jet bridge giving everyone the once-over upon boarding and grabbing anything beyond the bag plus one personal item, as well as any rollaboard looking even slightly large.
It's not unknown for there to be baggage issues on flights to that region at this time of the year. I for one am glad to hear AA is being proactive and trying to reduce the number of people who try to carry on the kitchen sink, only for the mess to have to be sorted out on board.
On a related note I'm also getting fed up with the creeping size of carry on's. The airlines are indirectly making this worse with their checked baggage charges, but some how it's going to have to be turned round to reduce the number of issues on board and the amount of bags that have to be checked at the front door.
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Frequent travel - it broadens a lot more than the mind....
Just so I am clear on the complaint. It is that the employee was rude correct? Not that they were enforcing the rules, right?
The OP didn't mention anything about rudeness, just that he was getting a "hard time" because the employee perceived that his carryon was too large, until the OP went into DYKWIA mode.
This contract employee did not station himself there. Given a choice, I'm sure he would have been in a break room somewhere. He was told to be there checking carryon bags by AA. While I agree that he should not be rude, we do not have any indication that he was. Keeping carryons to what fits in the bins benefits everybody.
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Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then they beat you with experience.
Please write the contract agent up. This is particularly one of the problems I was thinking about when I mentioned outsourced workers degrading the product on another thread. I saw this for the first time a few weeks ago. I was horrified at the way this person spoke to passengers and that there was even a need for him to be there at all. It seems a little counterproductive to me that the passenger made it through TSA and got past the agent with the same bag only to have a non AA employee talking to them like they are less than human as they reach the aircraft door. Then there is the added factor that he was grabbing bags from the first three passengers boarded. Wouldn't you think you would let some people board the plane before you actually start checking bags, especially the first class and premium passengers?
Just because the TSA does not enforce bag size properly does not mean you can do whatever you want.
Personally, glad to see enforcement. It gets old, waiting for people to gate check instead of leaving on time.
I didn't see any contract workers checking bags while traveling the past few days, but boarding at LAX (to JFK on a 767-200, which we all know has tiny bins) two days ago I noticed the GA definitely eyed every single rollaboard as she scanned the BPs.
It's a very busy few days for travelling, and AA probably feels that they need to step up enforcement of carry on bags to ensure that flights make it out on time. (Also, my assumption is that a lot of travelers this week are not seasoned road warriors, which may already make for slower than usual boarding.)
Probably because providing a good service to premium passengers is a key to legacy airlines actually making money. And the goal is to make money rather than just enforce rules, right?
Providing a good service to EVERYONE and being courteous to EVERYONE also goes a long way.
I've seen this quite a lot, not just boarding AA flights in the US, but shorthaul BA flights across Europe.
I agree with earlier posts about over-sized carry-on being challenged, but sometimes the staff are a little too over-enthusiastic in targeting pax where they perceive a problem that does not exist.
My roller-board, which fits easily in the overhead bin on every aircraft in the AA and BA mainline fleets, is sometimes scrutinized because of the design. The embedded wheels are slightly larger and have a round cover like a "hub-cap" which appears to make the base of the bag bigger, but in truth it does not.
The dialogue sometimes goes,
Them - "That's too big. You'll have to check that."
Me - "No, it fits"
Them - "It's too big, you'll have to check that." Silence as I walk past them and ignore anything else they have to say.
They are mistaken about their interpretation of the situation though do not realize it. They are a distraction and delay as I know the bag fits. And finally, they have no authority, even when it is an AA staff member. By the time they realize they will have a challenge if they pursue this with me, they turn to the next victim in line. There are no federal regulations about following instructions of ground staff, only flight crew.
If you know it will fit, and are not running on at the last minute where there is genuinely no more overhead space, just ignore these jobsworths. Let them just antagonize their next victim, who is probably not far behind you.
I'm glad that AA is finally cracking down on bags, particularly from JFK to regions south. I've seen paxs bring on body bags.
As far as offering exit rows, I've heard other GAs offer them free of charge. I would assume as long as it is not a MCE configured a/c they are free to do so.
I didn't see any contract workers checking bags while traveling the past few days, but boarding at LAX (to JFK on a 767-200, which we all know has tiny bins) two days ago I noticed the GA definitely eyed every single rollaboard as she scanned the BPs.
It's a very busy few days for travelling, and AA probably feels that they need to step up enforcement of carry on bags to ensure that flights make it out on time. (Also, my assumption is that a lot of travelers this week are not seasoned road warriors, which may already make for slower than usual boarding.)
If AA wants to eliminate the larger baggage they need to have the contract worker stationed before TSA or at the gate area to take bags BEFORE they enter the jetbridge. To have him hanging out at the end of the jetbridge is like guerrilla warfare. Most people are stressed out to begin with and they really start to get nervous when they get to the door of the aircraft, so, let's have some nasty dude at the door making people feel like they are under siege and possibly forcing a heart attack. If it continues I'm going to have to keep the AED on the galley counter during boarding.
I'd really like to see everyone on this board face the clown by the door and calmly agree while he snatches your bag and talks to you like you are 2. I'm sure you'll be very sympathetic.
Customer service on the airplane doesn't start on the airplane. My job is that much more difficult if any part of the operation fails that passenger on the way into the airplane. Whether it is a nasty sky cap, admirals club worker, reservation or gate agent, or the outsourced baggage person at the door.
My roller-board, which fits easily in the overhead bin on every aircraft in the AA and BA mainline fleets, is sometimes scrutinized because of the design.
I'm sure you know this, but the rule is not about how well it fits in the bin, it is about fitting into the permitted size limit. So is your bag over-sized as per the limit or not?
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And finally, they have no authority, even when it is an AA staff member. By the time they realize they will have a challenge if they pursue this with me, they turn to the next victim in line. There are no federal regulations about following instructions of ground staff, only flight crew.
You are going to come up against the wrong GA one day then you will discover how wrong you are
You don't get to flagrantly ignore the conditions of carriage and just board anyway carrying what you want just because the FAA don't mandate that you follow the GA instructions.
In fact, the FAA require that AA enforce their own rules and can and do levy fines on individuals who fail to enforce them.
Anyway this still comes down to the simple matter of compliance, either your bag does or it doesn't and if it does then it should be easy and quick to show that if challenged ...
