Originally Posted by rjque

As a father of a three year old frequent flyer (she files with me >25,000 miles a year), I'm neutral on this change. In general, families with small children do not take much, if any, overhead bin space. You need to have everything at arm's reach, and you only have so many arms, meaning that it is critical to check anything that is not needed on board. I personally never put anything in the overhead when I am traveling with my daughter.

But there is no question that this will lead to issues with families who are not seated together. Combined with a better policy for getting families together before boarding, and this wouldn't be much of an issue.

I've seen a number of suggestions that families wait to get off until the very end, which I don't think will work. Many also have connections to get, and they don't really slow things up much more than people with bags in the overhead compartment. With everything under a seat, it's much easier to get organized before you stand up.