Originally Posted by
gengar
I don't recall that period (I flew the week after 9/11 and don't remember being restricted to only a personal item, but that was a long time ago I suppose). Nevertheless, this supports my point. There are any number of ridiculous draconian rules that could be applied to speed up boarding (why not make it as fast as possible and not allow pax to bring ANYTHING on board?), so my point is that there must be some middle ground between the self-righteous condemnation so many people in this thread seem to enjoy and not enforcing rules at all. This is especially true since the airlines themselves have so many policies that directly cause or influence behavior to cause slower boarding.
I flew on 9/18 in 2001 and don't recall any limitations to carry-on size. We had full rollaboards. Perhaps the prior poster meant the time after the would-be shoe or underwear bombers, during one of which carriers and government security theaters during various points over the next two to three weeks banned carryons altogether; banned access to carryons (including books & magazines) during the final hour or so of flight; banned anything but a small personal item; etc. Glad I wasn't flying then!
Originally Posted by
emcampbe
It would be a good start, and would minimize the issue a lot more. Combined with the newer bins that are bigger and so can hold more bags, I think the problem on full flights would most likely be limited to a handful, if that, of the late boarders, as opposed to a whole boarding group or two.
The average flight I'm on fills up even with the vast majority of bags stowed properly (wheels-in/out, three to a bin). Culling oversized ones which have to go in sideways (if at all) isn't going to make much of a difference with that.
Originally Posted by
emcampbe
So you take an extra 30 seconds of your life to put your bag in the sizer and move on. Is it really that big of a deal? Should I protest if I get carded at a liquor store, even though I'm well beyond the age of majority? Or, since I don't carry firearms, liquids over 3.5 ml, or other prohibited items, shouldn't I just be able to tell the TSA that, since I meet the rules, I shouldn't be forced to have to put my bag through the x-ray?
It's one more aggravation in a long string of them at the airport, and an unnecessary one. And I've had redcoats pull me out of line to check it, so that's more than 30 seconds. Meanwhile, the security line is getting longer and longer...