New process / algorithm for determining if some bag gate checking will be needed
#46
Join Date: Apr 2000
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But the real problem is aircraft design. Whoever thought up overhead bins deserves to be drummed out of the brownies. The answer is to get rid of overhead bins and raise the floor. Install underfloor storage in the floor space under every seat (access via a trap door): you'd be able to fit much more in a pit than you can in an overhead. You'd need to combine that with boarding window seats first, then middles, then aisles, as UA used to do at one stage. If you're late to your seat, you may not be able to access underfloor storage: an incentive to arriving at the gate on time and/or constructing itineraries that have much longer minimum connection times than the legal minimum, as all savvy travelers do anyway.
#47
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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Not possible to do that if you are in a bulkhead row. The problem is compounded if you are in the bulkhead row of F on a 737, where some of the overhead space is already taken by safety equipment, etc.
But the real problem is aircraft design. Whoever thought up overhead bins deserves to be drummed out of the brownies. The answer is to get rid of overhead bins and raise the floor. Install underfloor storage in the floor space under every seat (access via a trap door): you'd be able to fit much more in a pit than you can in an overhead. You'd need to combine that with boarding window seats first, then middles, then aisles, as UA used to do at one stage. If you're late to your seat, you may not be able to access underfloor storage: an incentive to arriving at the gate on time and/or constructing itineraries that have much longer minimum connection times than the legal minimum, as all savvy travelers do anyway.
But the real problem is aircraft design. Whoever thought up overhead bins deserves to be drummed out of the brownies. The answer is to get rid of overhead bins and raise the floor. Install underfloor storage in the floor space under every seat (access via a trap door): you'd be able to fit much more in a pit than you can in an overhead. You'd need to combine that with boarding window seats first, then middles, then aisles, as UA used to do at one stage. If you're late to your seat, you may not be able to access underfloor storage: an incentive to arriving at the gate on time and/or constructing itineraries that have much longer minimum connection times than the legal minimum, as all savvy travelers do anyway.
If airlines just got rid of the darn baggage fees this would never be a problem. Why is it that every time I fly an airline within Asia, there's always plenty of overhead bin space even after everyone has boarded? Oh right, it's because not everyone tries to haul everything they own in a huge carryon in the cabin.
Cheking bags would make it worse.
A carry-on bag stowed in the cabin is included in the average passenger weight. If the bag is checked, or gate-checked on an RJ, the bag suddenly has a weight of its own in addition to the passenger weight. So, checking more bags makes the airplane heavier (on paper).
A carry-on bag stowed in the cabin is included in the average passenger weight. If the bag is checked, or gate-checked on an RJ, the bag suddenly has a weight of its own in addition to the passenger weight. So, checking more bags makes the airplane heavier (on paper).
Just to expand on this, if I'm not mistaken, average passenger weight includes a carry-on bag. Is it 30 pounds? Anyway, if the overhead bins fill up halfway through, then clearly the average carry-on weighs more than that, so the "weight on paper" is accurate.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Apr 17, 2017 at 1:24 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member -- please use multi-quote
#48
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 622
Not possible to do that if you are in a bulkhead row. The problem is compounded if you are in the bulkhead row of F on a 737, where some of the overhead space is already taken by safety equipment, etc.
But the real problem is aircraft design. Whoever thought up overhead bins deserves to be drummed out of the brownies. The answer is to get rid of overhead bins and raise the floor. Install underfloor storage in the floor space under every seat (access via a trap door): you'd be able to fit much more in a pit than you can in an overhead. You'd need to combine that with boarding window seats first, then middles, then aisles, as UA used to do at one stage. If you're late to your seat, you may not be able to access underfloor storage: an incentive to arriving at the gate on time and/or constructing itineraries that have much longer minimum connection times than the legal minimum, as all savvy travelers do anyway.
But the real problem is aircraft design. Whoever thought up overhead bins deserves to be drummed out of the brownies. The answer is to get rid of overhead bins and raise the floor. Install underfloor storage in the floor space under every seat (access via a trap door): you'd be able to fit much more in a pit than you can in an overhead. You'd need to combine that with boarding window seats first, then middles, then aisles, as UA used to do at one stage. If you're late to your seat, you may not be able to access underfloor storage: an incentive to arriving at the gate on time and/or constructing itineraries that have much longer minimum connection times than the legal minimum, as all savvy travelers do anyway.
#49
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,393
Of course, this is usually more of an issue on smaller planes, where it's easier for the calculations to fall out of balance. I've been on multiple flights where they brought the green-tagged bags on board an RJ, then proceeded to confuse the heck out of passengers when the flight crew explained that it was for weight reasons. "The bags weigh the same no matter where they're stored!"
#50
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: RNO
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This makes no sense. Bins aren't filling up because they weigh more than the average. Not only does that conflate weight and volume, it ignores the primary reason that overhead space is at a premium on these planes -- slimline seating, and the extra 1-2 rows of E- space they've added (or the extra column of seats on the 777HD). The additional passengers that can be boarded in have the cabin baggage allowance figured into their on-paper weight despite the fact that there is no way their hand luggage will fit in the overhead.
Of course, this is usually more of an issue on smaller planes, where it's easier for the calculations to fall out of balance. I've been on multiple flights where they brought the green-tagged bags on board an RJ, then proceeded to confuse the heck out of passengers when the flight crew explained that it was for weight reasons. "The bags weigh the same no matter where they're stored!"
Of course, this is usually more of an issue on smaller planes, where it's easier for the calculations to fall out of balance. I've been on multiple flights where they brought the green-tagged bags on board an RJ, then proceeded to confuse the heck out of passengers when the flight crew explained that it was for weight reasons. "The bags weigh the same no matter where they're stored!"
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
Not possible to do that if you are in a bulkhead row. The problem is compounded if you are in the bulkhead row of F on a 737, where some of the overhead space is already taken by safety equipment, etc.
But the real problem is aircraft design. Whoever thought up overhead bins deserves to be drummed out of the brownies. The answer is to get rid of overhead bins and raise the floor. Install underfloor storage in the floor space under every seat (access via a trap door): you'd be able to fit much more in a pit than you can in an overhead. You'd need to combine that with boarding window seats first, then middles, then aisles, as UA used to do at one stage. If you're late to your seat, you may not be able to access underfloor storage: an incentive to arriving at the gate on time and/or constructing itineraries that have much longer minimum connection times than the legal minimum, as all savvy travelers do anyway.
But the real problem is aircraft design. Whoever thought up overhead bins deserves to be drummed out of the brownies. The answer is to get rid of overhead bins and raise the floor. Install underfloor storage in the floor space under every seat (access via a trap door): you'd be able to fit much more in a pit than you can in an overhead. You'd need to combine that with boarding window seats first, then middles, then aisles, as UA used to do at one stage. If you're late to your seat, you may not be able to access underfloor storage: an incentive to arriving at the gate on time and/or constructing itineraries that have much longer minimum connection times than the legal minimum, as all savvy travelers do anyway.