[canucklad]

Again a simple solution. The airlines club together and employ an agent to work on their behalf. Remember at EDI it’s servisair that manages BA’s operation.

I’m also suggesting that this agent is used to identify those passengers who are clearly ignorant of the rules or are selfish enough to try and abuse the rules.

I’m sure we’ve all stood in the queue at security and said to ourselves ” what the ****” as we watched aghast at what some people consider cabin baggage.

Those people can be easily targeted and removed from process before they become a nuisance at the gate or worse on the aircraft.

I would add that this problem has worsened since self check in and boarding your own passes which is why I believe airlines need to take some responsibility back. If for no other reason ,then surely reducing the risk of terrorism must be high on their list of priorities. Especially I’d have thought UK & US carriers.

I do agree with you Martyn that until airlines standardize policy then the agent at security would not be as effective as they could be.

[SimonS1]

I think we are over simplifying things here really.

I can’t see airlines clubbing together to address the issue. When you can’t get an airline like BA to take it seriously then it’s highly unlikely that you would find a group of airlines willing to work together.

[CXDiamond]

The one in economy and two in premium cabins is the best and most simple rule. It just needs to be agreed upon and enforced.

Selling hand baggage only fares and then not policing what people are bringing aboard is negligent and an accident waiting to happen.

[LuganoPirate]

I can see all sorts of problems with most of the above. If you restrict bags through security people will have to go back and check them in. But what if check in is closed? You’ll end up,with delayed flights as passengers look for staff etc.

As to duty free. Airports depend on the sale of the stuff which keep charges down. Without them fees would rise and we’d pay more for our travels. Then we’d all complain about that.

In the end, despite all the bags, the searching for place, the full bins, planes still manage to take off on time, get to their destination with everyone seated and all their bags stowed – somewhere!

Where big improvements can be made to speed the whole process is in educating passengers and better security processes. It’s only when people arrive at the conveyor they start to take out laptops, then remove iPads, cameras, personal radio, toiletries and so on. This all takes time, then jacket off and everything in separate bins so despite having only one carry on, up to three of four trays are needed,magazine causing delay. Of course, just as said pax is about to go through he then remembers the contents of his pocket, so out come, coins, lighter, phone, keys and pen.

Surely the technology must exist where we can just put our case on the conveyor and walk through without all the rigmarole. This I think is more important than anything else.

[IanFromHKG]

LP, maybe that is part of the education process? Make a few people miss their flight, publicise it well, and people will quickly learn 🙂

To your final point – perhaps other countries should introduce the equivalent of TSA Pre ?

Mind you I have always thought it rather anachronistic that pretty much every other form of mass transport on earth can be used without security checks of any kind, whereas air travel requirements are (IMHO) completely OTT. With the safeguards now in place against hijacking of aircraft, does the additional risk really justify the extreme extra security?

[dutchyankee]

@CXDiamond, fully agree with you, if the airlines would just stick to their own rules consistently, such as 1 bag in Y, and 2 in C and F, the problem could already be majorly reduced. You just get the sad sack stories at each gate, then the abuse, then the inevitable `but i could carry it on last time,` or `I just got off a plane with this so why is it different this time.` Consistent, strict adherence to the rules would help!

@Ian, they also check luggage tags in most major Russian airports.

[Cedric_Statherby]

This problem has been aired many times on this and other forums. But I do think it has got much worse, on BA at least, since they introduced hand-luggage only fares. I find it quite extraordinary that they did this without any attempt to police what people consider to be reasonable hand luggage. Merely from a revenue protection point of view they should be policing this much more assiduously.

I once suggested that far from charging passengers for putting bags in the hold they should pay us. That would solve this problem overnight!

But the cynics in this thread are right. The airlines care more about punctuality than customer satisfaction, or even about their poor cabin crew who have to deal with the shambles their cabin luggage policy has created.

Incidentally, now BA are all but withdrawing Club Europe, one of the few remaining advantages of a CE ticket is that there might (might) be some overhead locker space left when you board before the Y class unwashed. If, that is, the gold card holders boarding before you haven’t grabbed it all …

[michaelj2]

I am compelled to write about my recent experience on a SAA flight from Nairobi to Johannesburg which is a corrollary of the above. As we were boarding the flight, from the stairs, a very officious flight attendant pointed at my carry on bag (used on many many flights) and said “thats too big and must go in the hold”. When I protested that it was an “approved” carry on and I was travelling business class, she just repeated “its too big and must go in the hold”. Eventually I conceded but this argument was repeated many times with most of the passengers behind me. As a result the plane left 30 minutes late and the overhead cabins in business class were completed empty!! When asked again what basis did she use to force most of us to check our bags into the hold, she said “read the airline magazine”. When I checked the limitation of carry on luggage was a figure that added the length, width and height of the bag! How did she compute this just by looking at our bags was beyond me!! The in-flight service on a brand new A321 was great.

[michaelj2]

I am compelled to write about my recent experience on a SAA flight from Nairobi to Johannesburg which is a corrollary of the above. As we were boarding the flight, from the stairs, a very officious flight attendant pointed at my carry on bag (used on many many flights) and said “thats too big and must go in the hold”. When I protested that it was an “approved” carry on and I was travelling business class, she just repeated “its too big and must go in the hold”. Eventually I conceded but this argument was repeated many times with most of the passengers behind me. As a result the plane left 30 minutes late and the overhead cabins in business class were completed empty!! When asked again what basis did she use to force most of us to check our bags into the hold, she said “read the airline magazine”. When I checked the limitation of carry on luggage was a figure that added the length, width and height of the bag! How did she compute this just by looking at our bags was beyond me!! The in-flight service on a brand new A321 was great.

[dutchyankee]

On my recent flight on LH from MUC to LED, newish A320, 30inch pitch in Business, completely full flight. I was in business in row 2, and watched with amusement how many bags the Russian passengers were schleping through the cabin. No control at all. A couple in Business Class who boarded last had no place for their luggage and were seated in row 1 bulkhead. Here`s the kicker, as LH no longer have wardrobes on their airbus narrow body aircraft, the cabin crew now take one of the passenger over heads for their luggage, and the locker is labelled as such. When the Purser helped the passengers in row one, he said, I will allow this in my locker for you, taking one of their bags. The other one went into an over head 7 rows back. Ridiculous.

[IanFromHKG]

Cedric_Statherby – 19/06/2014 10:26 GMT : Incidentally, now BA are all but withdrawing Club Europe, one of the few remaining advantages of a CE ticket is that there might (might) be some overhead locker space left when you board before the Y class unwashed. If, that is, the gold card holders boarding before you haven’t grabbed it all …

And the silver card holders. And the bronze card holders. And the oneworld sapphires and oneworld emeralds…..

I wouldn’t mind boarding CE early if I got a glass of champers on board before departure (as is the norm in business class in most of Asia even on shorthaul). As it is I have to leave the lounge early just to try to stow my bag, and then sit in a crappy seat for half an hour while the great unwashed file through.

Now that’s what I call a premium experience (rolls eyes)

[Cedric_Statherby]

Ian_from_HKG

I used to live in Hong Kong and remember with fondness business class on the “short haul” flights in the region (though to be fair they are not all that short many of them).

But you touch on another huge gripe I have with aeroplanes generally. One pays for a premium seat, one boards early … and then unless you are in F in a jumbo (which even I don’t manage very often) one sits by the entrance door while the world and his wife pass you, jostle you, spill their drinks on you (this happened to me about 6 months ago) and so on.

After the spilt drink episode I vowed never again. I now deliberately choose the last row window seat, board early, settle down and am quite frequently undisturbed (and even have the seat next to me free – for some reason no-one wants to fly right at the back). True, one has to allow 15 minutes extra to get off, but you know that in advance and don’t have to play the silly game of standing up as the aeroplane comes to a halt, only to be awkwardly uncomfortable while all those in front of you get off.

Recommended – give it a try.

[IanFromHKG]

Cedric, I hear you! Unfortunately on the airlines I fly most often, the last row is usually immediately in front of the toilets which are immediately in front of the galley. Not a good place to be…

Having said that, during the SARS saga I learnt that everyone who contracted it on an aircraft was sitting within three rows ahead of the infecting person. As a result, I started travelling at the back of a cabin (even if that wasn’t the back of the plane!). Miraculously, I contracted fewer coughs and colds… So I have stuck with that approach.

As I have mentioned before on other threads, I can’t get that fussed about losing ten or fifteen minutes here or there, and would rather check in a bag and have to stand by a baggage carousel for a while rather than travel with the bare minimum, struggle for overhead locker space, and lug it all through airports. So I can understand the philosophy you espouse. But perhaps that is just one step (and a few dozen rows) too far for me 😉

[Charles-P]

When flying short haul where there is no divider between Business and Economy I still prefer to sit as far forward as possible but I am certainly nearly always the last to board the aircraft and have never understood the ‘first to board’ mentality.

Even when I fly long haul (Business usually, occasionally First ) I still am never in a rush to board.

On a recent flight between Brussels and Zurich I saw people standing in a line by the gate at least 20 minutes before boarding !

[MartynSinclair]

On occasions I am flying with zero hand baggage it is nice to board last and comment to the welcoming cabin crew that now I am here, its time to go, before settling into 1D..

Doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it feels nice….

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