The whole proposal made quite a bit of news and my guess is, that it was to test the waters.
One of the general issues I see is that people respond to incentives and thus the whole crazyness with fees for checked bags leads to unsustainable levels of carry-on. Now if we don't have carry-ons any longer, we will get 'wear-ons' like Sev/Scottevest started already. And I rather have neatly packed bags in my plane than a host of coats that technically are not bags but are loaded with stuff and can't be folded well...
Essentially it really boils down to this:
Originally Posted by
escog
Actually, the core problem is that the airlines can't/won't provide a reasonable amount of assurance as to the delivery and security of checked baggage. If I thought I could safely check my luggage without undue risk of theft, damage, or loss; I'd have less reason to carry on.
add the fees for checked luggage and you have the reasons why people create chaos on planes...