corporate-wage-slave

Understandable, though my reading of your comments was that the cabin crew were somewhat stuck with the situation: if too many bags pass the cabin door it's too late, the problem needed to be addressed well before then otherwise it's bound to become messy. Besides I'm sure you would be happy to repeat your comments to the cabin crew.

One thing we can do here is highlight those outstations which are good, and which are bad in this area. So AMS and DUB sometimes get flack here for excessive zeal, but in the case of AMS they really have to be blunt. LHR did have one or two incidents where Gold cardholders were seemingly targeted simply because they were first to board, but after being flagged in this forum action was taken (or so I was told) to avoid a repetition.

BOH

Not everyone would do though....just as they don't now. Yesterday there were quite a few pax with just a small lap-top bag, some girls with just a handbag and some folks with a very small rucksack. What is needed is enforcement that IF you bring items as hand-luggage there are very strict and enforced rules as to size and number.

Regarding delays - as per my OP....three in a row now for me on BA so has become somewhat of an issue. Worst one was about 4 weeks ago into LHR with an 80 minute delay because of a missed landing slot at a peak time,

awayIgo

Security's job is ...security, not management of bag size. Every airline has slightly different size requirements. Every class of passenger has a different allowance too. I shudder at asking security to keep it all straight. Their job is to concentrate on making sure nothing dangerous is brought onto an aircraft. Lets let them deal with that. It seems to be more than enough responsibility.

BOH

You are correct in that the CC did try and address the situation but when it was clear the gate staff were still letting pax through, they then did absolutely nothing at the aircraft door, apart from politely advising, "there is no room in the overhead bins, they are already full". So why let pax carry on down the cabin then delay the flight by having to go down and bring those very same bags all the way back up to the door - it was surely inevitable that was going to be the case?

I have now wondered if the CC were simply following a BA staff policy in waiting until all pax have boarded and only then retrospectively removing the bags? Perhaps it is the best way to do this whilst avoiding any confrontation - probably alot easier to remove a bag from a pax when the pax can 100% see for themselves there is absolutely no space at all therefore arguing is now futile. What was interesting yesterday was there was not even a discussion amongst the two CC at the front as to whether they should start to insist on pax leaving bags at the door for checking in....both CC just let them all through after a polite advisory there was no further room

HIDDY

I haven't seen anyone on here throwing a wobbly about being forced to have a yellow tag attached to their cabin baggage for ages. Have they been done away with?

corporate-wage-slave

Not totally, but the focus indeed seems a little lower. Probably due for a crackdown with the winter coats and Christmas shopping bags.

South London Bon Viveur

It's not their job. They are there to ensure no bombs, knives etc. on the plane, not to ensure that people take the right amount of bags as carry on (the rules for which will vary between carriers and class, status etc.).

Going into winter silly season this is going to be a more regular occurrence. It's astonishing what some people bring on board. It's also astonishing how oblivious some passengers are about how to store bags and how long they are taking to place items in the overhead and the fact that they are holding people up etc. I feel for the CC.

V10

Will they be clearing that with the shopping centre airport first?

TabTraveller

As much as it is often derided on here, it is one advantage to having your gold luggage tag attached. I have overheard gate staff at LCY a number of times commenting that they shouldn't try to gate check my wheelie bag due to the gold tag bling attached to it.

T8191

iWife was yellow-tagged on the last trip ... well, her very small carry on that fits easily [and invariably goes] under the seat in front in CE was tagged, as she also had a small handbag. I removed the tag and kept it as a souvenir

xenole

I had a 22" rollaboard and a similar sized bag as my hand luggage on most of my recent flights.
Even AA didn't flinch when I boarded a CRJ with them and a fleece.

Did hear the odd AA announcement saying that if you were in boarding group 7-9 or similar, you should check your bag as they weren't going to fit.

BA just have no consistency in their procedures.

Took around 30 mins to get my checked bag at LHR the other day. Could have been half way to Central London with hand luggage.
Still better than the 1h30 last time I checked a bag through to JFK.
Best was third off at JER and I was at the Radisson before the bulk of passengers hit the taxi area.

florens

Same here. I only check bags when not otherwise possible.

HIDDY

Indeed.
Over the years at EZE they've been far more interested in finding bundles of US dollars in your hand baggage.

subject2load

All that cash you save by travelling economy has to be stashed somewhere I guess

cosmo74

I think a key issue is that BA crew aren't really pro-active during the boarding process. On a LHR - DUB flight recently, I don't recall hearing a single announcement during boarding asking people to put small bags under seats. There was also no-one in the aisles keeping an eye on things, as you'd get with Easyjet or Ryanair. A family of four were in front of me - they filled up one locker with a small bag and their 4 coats, then promptly shut it. They'd been allowed to pre-board (despite the youngest child being about 10) so it should have been pretty obvious to a crew member keeping half an eye out. When the inevitable happened and the crew were desperately trying to find space for a case, I had to point out to the crew member that the locker they'd just opened and closed had plenty of room as it was full of coats, and the case was swiftly stowed there.

If BA could change their SOP so that crew become more involved throughout the boarding process, not just when it seems they've run out of space, boarding would be much smoother. It would also help if ground crew did what other airlines do and count the number of wheelie bags as they're going on, and then start gate checking when they've reached a specified amount.