Soon, very soon they will start measuring and weighing carry on bags....so then a hard sided carry on will be heavier and will hold less...soon then we will see overcoats in july with multiple pockets stuffed with stuff !

What I would rather see is Remote controlled cameras & remote overrides on certain controls etc. Unfortunately the Unions have fought this HARD. They cant stand the thought of a peeping tom lurking behind the cockpit door. Might catch them playing Angry Birds or such,

Statistically, you're more likely to kill someone with your car than a pilot or terrorist is with a plane. Would you be comfortable with a camera and remote overrides installed in your personal vehicle?

Actually, I'd like a different approach that's effectively immune to hostage-taking.

Put some GPS systems on the planes linked to a database of the surface of the Earth. This would show the minimum safe altitude everywhere and it would show where a plane can land.

In it's normal operating mode it would simply act as a warning to help prevent controlled flight into terrain situations. (There have been accidents this would have avoided, that's probably enough to justify it right there.) If the projected flight path is going to bust the minimum safe altitude it starts yelping at you.

It has two more modes, though.

In the first hijack mode it simply will not permit busting the minimum altitude. The computer takes over the controls to the extent necessary to ensure this. It's data also shows habitation, it will turn away from dense areas when the fuel gets low enough. (It knows where the airports are, it will permit you to head for one.)

In the second hijack mode it's far more aggressive. It knows where there are airports that it can autoland, it heads for the nearest unless that airport is broadcasting a waveoff (at which point it selects the next nearest).

The controls still work but only to maneuver within a certain range of the flight path the computer wants.

Once set you get a few seconds of a squawker and then you can't turn off the hijack setting--that requires a ground crew.

Breaking the cockpit door also sets mode 1 automatically.

I'm not sure that would work - eg, planes coming in to Toronto come in lower than the tallest buildings, just as an example.

Not to mention the cost-benefit analysis probably doesn't come anywhere near making sense.

The map is detailed enough that it knows where the safe approach is.

If you were on the approach to the city airport, you would be at low altitude (ie lower than the buidlings). You would turn the plane, and hit a building within seconds, if that was your intent. The plane could not climb in time to clear the building, and it wouldn't be safe to take steering control off the pilot (ie they could legitimately have swerved to avoid a flock of geese, another light aircraft etc.) and be prepared to avoid a building (albeit not by much).

Is the one bag under a rule or request?

I know that you must comply with flight attendant commands but other than that is it really in the rules

How about automatic controls and sensors in place to prevent a threadjacking?

On the United flight I was on it was a 'rule,' however it was only enforceable in the early stages of boarding.

Sowwy pinniped

I never melt down. I ask them to not do whatever it is they are doing...firmly. I rarely put anything in the overhead, but when I do, I expect my things to not be destroyed. Space is first-come, first-served. Shared does not mean people have the right to wreck your bags or your belongings.

Economy passengers blithely stowing their bags in the overhead lockers in business class, thus denying business class pax of the opportunity to load their own stuff, is a common problem.

Last Thursday (4/5) I flew DUS-LHR in British Airways' Club Europe (business) cabin. While the economy section was full to the gunwhales there were only three pax in CE. However, when I boarded, all the overhead lockers were crammed full of EY passengers' bags so I was unable to stow my roll-on.

The BA purser showed both resource and initiative: she asked the other two CE pax to identify their property and then had a GA remove all the rest for loading in the belly of the plane.

Simples.

Are you seriously trying to tell us, in all honesty, that this woman was less than three feet high?

Fiddlesticks.

Ryanair: "Each passenger may check in up to two checked bags upon payment of the applicable checked baggage fees by electing to purchase a checked baggage allowance of either 15 kilos or 20 kilos when make their initial booking. After the booking is made checked baggage can be added to a reservation via the Manage My Booking facility up to 4 hours before the scheduled flight departure time. The checked baggage fees are charged per person/per one way flight and are discounted when booked on-line. Higher baggage fees apply when checked bags are purchased via a Ryanair call centre or airport ticket desk, during peak periods and on selected routes. Fees may vary from time to time but it is the rates in force at the time you book and/or pay for your checked baggage allowance which apply.

For full details of our current Checked Baggage Fees, see our Table of Fees."

http://www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-...ns-tableoffees

EasyJet: "To keep our fares low, be able to board the plane as quickly as possible and ensure your comfort onboard, if you bring more than one piece of hand baggage we�ll check the extra into the hold. We�ll need to charge you for this � at check-in this fee is �25 due to higher handling costs at the airport if you don't buy the bag online and at the boarding gate this increases to �40 to ensure that we can bring you to your destination on time."

For those who advocate a strictly enforced carry-on policy: I was on a flight recently with a gentleman who had a rollaboard, a stuffed briefcase, a winter coat and a hat. Flying in 'Y' and not happy - upgrade didn't clear, stayed in the lounge too long, missed early boarding, closet in 'F' was full and he expected to put everything in the overhead - and didn't want anyone else's bags crushing his coat or hat.

My question: if policy is strictly enforced, how many carry-ons did this gentleman have? Do his bulky winter coat and hat not count as items? They took up as much space in the overhead as my standard rollaboard. There's no way he could have fit his briefcase, coat and hat under the seat in front of him.