[travelworld2]

Or one piece of hand baggage plus an unlimited amount of duty free…

[FormerlyDoS]

if BA allocated overhead luggage space to the pax, where would the cabin crew put theirs, on the A320?

[IanFromHKG]

canucklad – 20/01/2014 13:31 GMT : The easiest option is to allocate each passenger space in the overhead lockers, by physically splitting the space into equal parts above each row.

Hmmm…

One problem with this is that it will result in a lot of wasted space where someone uses a smaller bag but there isn’t enough space left over to put anything else in. And yes, I accept the point that if everyone took only the max allowed then this wouldn’t be an issue, but I think realistically it would cause more problems than it solves.

What really bugs me is people stowing hand luggage immediately they get on the plane even when they are sitting at the other end, so someone sitting near the front – perhaps, for example, the people who have paid a multiple of the fare in order to sit in the premium seats – has no space left over for their own stuff. Maddening – especially since it is completely impractical for said premium passenger to find space further back, then fight back to their seat against the incoming tide, and then have to do the same in reverse to retrieve it at the other end.

I recall one (just one!) AA domestic flight where all the lockers above the First seats were closed, and had (handwritten) tags on them showing the name of the passenger sitting beneath. Very effective in preventing the hoi-polloi nicking the space. Wouldn’t it be nice if a similar approach were used on other aircraft where this could be a problem? Even if there is insufficient resource to do the handwritten cards, perhaps these lockers could be left closed during boarding with a permanent and prominent notice stating this space is only for First or Business Class customers (as the case may be)?

[MartynSinclair]

There is a far easier solution Ian. Cabin crew politely explain that overheads should be used near to allocated seat.

On a recent European flight, I removed someone’s bags from the overhead above row 1 so I could fit my case in. The offender (who had boarded a few ahead of me) was tannoyed and did come forward to claim his bag. He complained, but the crew quite rightly asked him to use a locker near his seat…

[IanFromHKG]

Well, I am not sure that I agree that that is easier, Martyn. You would only need that to happen a few times on each flight for boarding to be severely disrupted. The key, surely, is to prevent that sort of abuse happening in the first place, not to try to correct it after the event?

[BRin1406]

On a CE flight a couple of weeks ago and the lockers above rows 1-3 were full with Crew bags.

[openfly]

Club Europe AMS-LGW thur 16th Jan 18.45, the lockers were almost full on boarding and I was one of the first. Large crew bags and economy passengers were dumping their bags in the CE lockers. Crew not interested in sorting this out. Then 6 bags had to go in the hold. So crew bags in the lockers…pax bags in the hold!! Appalling.

There is no control on the size and amount of hand baggage on HBO fares.

[canucklad]

As BRin1406& FDoS sarcastically mentions : ) ,
I agree with the crew bag situation, add to that oxygen, blankets , first aid boxes, and other equipment (I’ve seen cartons of fresh orange juice) normally stowed in the lockers above the first few rows and you can begin to understand why there becomes a domino effect as Ian suggested.

Why can’t crew bags be treated like kid’s buggies?

Morning or rather good evening Ian.
Your points are valid if everybody acted responsibly; unfortunately they don’t so I would counter with this point . I have paid for my seat too. My ticket should allow me a degree of comfort in the seat I’ve paid for. I should not be penalised for travelling with 1 small holdall/sports bag and as previously mentioned, especially on long haul flights my preference to board just in front of the dispatcher should not mean I need to reduce my legroom or worse have my bag taken from me at the aircraft door.

My ticket should entitle me to my fair share of the available space above, and if I elect not to use all of my fair share then so be it!
I will also add, on my weekly commute I just travelled with the shirt on my back. And by the time I boarded there was never any space to put anything in ,so if I had brought on any carry-ons !

[SimonS1]

Martyn – all sounds good in theory, in practice with the number of crew and other jobs to attend to it would be impossible to police. Just like the crew asking people to listen to the safety demo and people don’t take any notice.

The answer to this is clearly within the airline’s hands.

First you restrict the amount of baggage taken onto the plane. People don’t enter the jetty with more than an acceptable amount.

Second alternative arrangements should be made for the crew. As pointed out elsewhere it seems to work OK with strollers being delivered to people at the top of the jetty, why not crew bags?

I also agree with Canucklad, in my experience some of the worst offenders can be premium travellers. If everyone in CE tried to place 2 bags in the lockers above the seats there would be a problem.

As mentioned on another thread this problem can only get worse with handbag fares, increased density seating, increasing amounts of retail purchases etc. Unless the airlines take a stance I fear there will be some major incident in which an excess of hand luggage is a contributing factor. There will then be recriminations all round and the CAA will step in because the airlines can’t/won’t address it themselves.

[dutchyankee]

Hi Ian and Martyn,

I have been using Swiss a great deal lately back and forth to Russia, and they have placards on the first few bins that say for Business Class only, and they keep them closed during boarding which does seem to work. I fully agree, the crew should be more vigilent.

Crew bags are a shocker though, and should not be in passenger over head bins. On my recent flight from DFW to LHR on AA, I was in row 3, and locker above my seat was full with crew bags. I mentioned it to one of the crew passing, who replied over head lockers are not assigned, to which I replied maybe not, but I didnt want someone elses bags above my head if they needed to get something and to please store them elsewhere. She immediately complied, although none to happy.

As to airports helping out, I recall many many years ago, in the USA at some airports they had a sizer cut out at the front of the xray belt, and if your bag didnt get through the sizer, it couldnt be screened and therefore it didnt go with you. Seemed to work back then.

[flydrive]

The problem in the first few rows being occupied by crew bags, food, emergency gear, etc, is exacerbated further by the new aircraft layouts, which have virtually eliminated closets or additional storage up front. LH used to have a large wardrobe in front of row 1, which was used to hang coats and was used as a catch all for crew gear and additional bags that didn’t fit anywhere else. These have been remove in all of the new shorthaul aircraft, and the bins above the first few rows are always full. I never found any sympathy from the crew. This is especially infuriating if you sit in row 1, which has the best leg room but no storage at one’s feet. After flying LH for years in business around Europe, I got so fed up with trying to fnd space for my things many rows back (and then having to swim against the tide to retrieve them on landing) that I stopped flying LH.

[nmh1204]

I was on a Delta flight in first, where economy passengers with bags 4-5 times the size of other international’s handbaggage, sticking them in the bins for first passengers. Also was on a flight in economy where a woman had more bags than BA site says, and she was sat in a seat with an over-seat emergency exit, so she stuck her bags in the gap between her seat and the emergency exit. That shouldn’t be allowed

[esselle]

SimonS1

Fully agree with you. It is the airline, and only the airline, that can solve this problem. However, if the gate staff start policing it, the whole boarding process grinds to a halt. If the crew start policing it at the top of the airbridge, same thing happens. Once on board, it is a free for all, but then actually only needs crew intervention if the pax cannot sort it out for themselves. So really, in the eyes of the staff, they only need to become involved as a last resort.

Regarding crew bags in the C class overheads, I have often politely asked crew members to remove their bags to make room for mine. Then it’s a question of who blinks first , but you have to be polite about it or lord knows what they will hide in your drink…………….

[IanFromHKG]

Gate staff policing need not make it grind to a halt. Just as the appalling habit of stuffing bags into the first available locker seems to have been borrowed from our American cousins, so too could we borrow the “if it is too big for the locker we are putting it in the hold” approach. On smaller US commuter planes this is standard practice. Bags are left on the jet bridge while boarding, and returned to the jet bridge on arrival.

[esselle]

Yes, but there is a world of difference between “it doesn’t fit in the locker” and “you’re carrying more than your allowance”. The former still pertains on smaller aircraft in the UK.

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