Suboptimal loading of overhead compartments
 

On recent full flights, I noticed that passengers after me tended to load overhead compartments in a suboptimal fashion that failed to maximize the amount of baggage that could fit in each one.

The usual situation is that a passenger with a rollaboard would not even try to put it in wheels-out or handle-out (so that the long dimension is perpendicular to the aisle). Instead, they just put the rollaboards in parallel to the aisle, wasting overhead space. Flight attendants did not even try to turn the rollaboards that direction when looking for more space for later arriving passengers.

Any reason why people (including flight attendants) seem to be unaware of optimal overhead compartment packing?

On AA flights, it's standard for FAs to announce that most roll-aboards fit in the bins wheels first and that passengers should stow them that way. Whether or not said passengers listen, and if they listen whether or not they comply, are separate issues. Given congestion in the aisles, all the other stuff that's likely to have been shoved in around a longitudinally-stowed roll-aboard before an FA passes it, how long it would take to remove everything to reposition the offending piece of luggage, and the passengers whose boarding would be held up while that was going on - the cabin crew's ability to fix things is in practice limited.

They don't fly much, and/or the FA's see it as "not my job" except in extreme situations.

I always try to get mine in wheels-out or handle-out, and test the bin lid to make sure it will close, before I sit down (the exception being on the 2-seat side of an MD-80/DC-9, where they're supposed to go lengthwise). Last night I had an unexpected and pleasant experience with an AA FA "protecting" the bin nearest the bulkhead in Y, where I was sitting, by keeping it closed until the bulkhead passengers showed up, to ensure we'd have space. :) Haven't seen much of that lately.

I know the optimal way to pack the overhead compartments, but I have a rollerboard that never fits the way it's supposed to (wheels or handle first), so I've just given up and put it in the space-hoggy way. I makes me feel guilty on full flights. It's also kind of a crappy bag, so I really need to upgrade soon.

May I suggest the Costco 22" rollaboard...cheap, durable, and with a lifetime warranty--destroy one, and you can go back to Costco and swap it out. And it fits the right way! :D

I put my bag in once parallel to the aisle because it doesn't it didn't fit in the last few planes I was on but then someone moved my bag and it actually did fit. I felt bad but I boarded late so I didn't want to hold people up by fiddling around with my bag. I guess I'll try wheels in first and then move it the other way if it won't fit. :eek:

Also, are First and Business Class bins bigger than those in Coach?

In general, no. That permits movable bulkheads and other CFE to be easily repositioned fore and aft without interference from the stowbins.

Could it also be that the rollaboard bag may fit wheels out but not wheels in, or wheels on top but not wheels on the bottom, or vice-versa in each case?

Bravo...man, I wish more people would do that! I can't count how many times I've seen folks place their bags and then "presume" the bin will close, and then when it doesn't it becomes a mad scramble for the FA to shuffle things around in nearby bins before aircraft-doors-closed. It's a big reason why I no longer allow myself to doze off before doors-closed...I don't want to awaken later and find my bag is not where I originally stowed it.