The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
The simple fix that would revolutionise air travel
The rationalisation of hand-luggage policies by airlines could make a big difference. Nick Trend has a four-point plan
The mountain of luggage that suddenly accumulated at a Heathrow terminal after a technical malfunction last weekend was the latest problem to beset UK airports this year. Some travellers were forced to take off without their bags, while others suffered a long wait at check-in, and those arriving faced a delay of up to two hours to get their luggage back.
Photographs of the huge stack of suitcases sent a particular shiver down my spine because I have never quite trusted airport baggage systems. Not only do I fear losing my luggage, but I also hate the queues at check-in and the miserable wait at the luggage carousel on arrival. It’s the last thing you want when you finally get to your destination after a long journey. As a result, I have, whenever feasible, always limited myself to hand luggage. It may mean the occasional scrub and rinse laundry session in a hotel basin, but, for me, that is a price worth paying.
It’s a tactic that is especially effective at a moment when check-in queues have been snaking out of airport terminals. But it was also an early initiative of the no-frills airlines and a key part of their success. If passengers don’t check in luggage, it saves the airline time and money when processing bags and it especially helps them with a quick turnaround, so that planes can be used more efficiently. Hence fares were set lower to encourage travelling with hand luggage only.
In recent years, this became problematic. Too many passengers were carrying too much on board and there wasn’t enough room in the cabin to stow it all. That then became another opportunity for the airlines. Ryanair, for example, reduced the size of bag you were allowed to carry on board with a basic fare. If you want to take a bigger one, you pay more. And most airlines now have a complex fare structure that depends on the size, number and weight of both carry-on and checked-in bags.
There is little consistency between airlines, especially regarding sizes. A cabin bag measuring 56cmx45cmx 25cm meets the requirements of BA and easyJet, but is too big for Ryanair, whose limits are 55cm x 40cm x 20cm. As for the smaller “personal bags”, all three airlines have different size limits.
Even if you carry the correct-sized bag, there are still sometimes problems with insufficient space in the cabin on busy flights. I was on a heavily booked BA service to Marseille the other day and some passengers were required to give up their hand luggage at the gate so that it could be checked into the hold. That is really irritating when you have packed carefully to avoid just that.
In short, the rules for carry-on bags have become too complex and confusing. It’s time for reform. Here’s what the aviation industry needs to do:
1 Reconfigure cabins and overhead lockers
That way, there will be enough space for everyone to bring a reasonably-sized bag on board, even when the plane is full. An additional rack at the front of the plane would help. Surely it can’t be beyond the wit of layout designers to solve this.
2 Standardise cabin-bag sizes We need a clear one-size-fits-all British or, ideally, international standard that defines the maximum dimensions for cabin bags, which luggage manufacturers can adopt. Gate staff would no longer need to mess about trying to fit cases into a frame, but could simply check the label.
3 Abandon the 10kg hand-baggage weight limit imposed by most airlines This just adds to the complexity and bureaucracy at the gate. EasyJet used to have no limit, but, sadly, it has now imposed one, at 15kg.
4 Comb the boarding queues and enforce the rules more efficiently That way, passengers who are trying to break the rules will be picked up before they cause any hold-ups at the desk.