Originally Posted by Wyfind

I flew SFO-BUR this week, and a deadheading flight attendant from another airline was told to gate-check their bag.

The crew member had a personal bag and the flight attendant combo bag (the bag that attaches to the top of a roller-board with a strap), which the gate agent managing boarding said counted as two bags. The crew member got upset and appealed to the agent at the desk, who backed up the other agent. He ended up gate-checking his roller-board-and-bag combo to make his commute.

Originally Posted by LarryJ

The CRJ-900s are temporary. UA got them when AA dropped them from their Mesa contract. They are being replaced with E175 but that takes time as crews have to be retrained.


The CRJ-700 and -900 have slightly larger bins than the CRJ-200 and some rollaboards will fit if they aren't overstuffed. Whether or not they are allowed in the cabin depends on how the operating airline's (Mesa) weight and balance program is structured. If they allow rollaboards in the cabin than the average passenger weight is higher since the weight of cabin bags is included in the passenger weight. If they are not allowed then the average passenger weight is lower and the gate-checked bags are counted and a standard weight is added for each bag.


That's the issue, isn't it? We want gate agents who are sufficiently detail oriented to enforce the rules but who aren't so pedantic to unreasonably apply them. It can be a fine line between doing a good job and overdoing it.


Was it a mainline flight?

Crewmembers who are traveling for work are allowed one extra carry-on bag to account for our work supplies. If it's an airplane that can't accept rollaboards then it will have to be gate-checked anyway.