Mandatory Gate Check with Envoy Air E175?
 

I have been on some AA flights on smaller commuter jets recently where they have required all roller boards to be plane side checked. Does anyone have any recent experience with Envoy Air E175 flights? I have a tight connection in DFW where the inbound flight is on a E175 operated by Envoy Air and would prefer not to have to wait for the bag to be retrieved.

If your bag fits in the overhead simply take the red tag and place it in your pocket. I've done that a couple of times with a shoulder bag.

E175 will take roller bags which fit in the sizer.

The CR200, CR 700 & CR900 require valet check for anything with a wheel on it.

Thank you! That's what I needed to know.

Also note that the E175 can quickly run out of space as rollers have to go in sideways instead of wheels first in the economy section. Board as early in the process as you can.

This topic has come up many times – some of AA's commuter carriers have operating certificates that forbid them from having wheeled rollaboards in the cabin. For these airlines it doesn't matter how small your wheeled bag is it must be valet-checked ... as well as also being the case that your non-wheeled (shoulder) bag can be as large as you like as long as it fits somewhere in the cabin. The requirement to valet check can be not about whether it fits, but about whether the operating certificate for that airline and that plane permits it.

Yup -- I've heard announcements recently that they hard-count 25 rollers and force check any after this

Can you elaborate or share why? The overhead bins are a standard size and wheels or no wheel, that isn't the determining factor in weight.

Why would an AOC determine the use of wheeled bags?

I have no idea why, but an FA 3-4 years ago showed me the AOC and it clearly stated no wheeled bags in the overhead bins. It didn't give the reason of course. I would assume it would be related to the airline's training plans, staffing levels, etc etc. I agree it makes little sense, but I had made such a fuss that the FA felt she had to prove to me that she wasn't being willful, but was following her rules.

It was on a CLT-ALB flight.

That's true for some regional carriers but not all.
For example, it is a requirement for PSA. But there is no such requirement for Sky West.

Great idea by AA - outsource everything to operate under your single brand, but don't standardize anything for consistent experience.
Going for GREAT!

I guess I missed the discussion about "wheeled" carryons, but I do agree that the customer experience should be as consistent as possible across aircraft.

Interesting....being east coast based, I don't see many Skywest planes out this way. Thanks for the clarification/correction.