Recently released recommendations that would reduce the size of carry-on bags for airplane travelers should be rejected or balanced with reduced baggage fees, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said Monday.
Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, spoke Monday at Newark Liberty International Airport to demonstrate how reducing the size of carry-on bags could force air travelers to check baggage and incur charges from airlines or spring for new luggage.
“There’s a limit to how much consumers can take,” he said. “I feel consistently when I’m flying that I get squeezed in more and more into smaller and smaller spaces, and I have to pay more for just about everything that I used to get under the base price for my ticket.”
The International Air Transport Association last week recommended domestic airlines require carry-on bags be a maximum uniform size: 21.5 inches high, 13.5 inches wide and 7.5 inches deep. That’s a 20 percent decrease compared with what the major U.S. carriers currently allow and a more substantial decrease compared with airlines including Spirit, Virgin America and Frontier, Menendez said.
Menendez said domestic airlines have made $21 billion in profits on baggage fees since 2008.
An IATA spokesman said last week that nine international airlines will soon adopt the new guidelines. Menendez said Monday he will write to domestic airlines to urge them to reject the recommendations or ease the transition by waiving or decreasing baggage fees.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, criticized the new bag recommendations last week.
Chicago-based United Airlines, which operates roughly three-quarters of flights through Newark, is not planning to make any changes at this time, a spokeswoman said on Monday. United’s parent company is United Continental Holdings Inc.
(AP)
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2 Responses
I guess the guy is too busy fighting his indictment to realize that airlines are no longer subject to price regulation and can charge whatever they want for the services they provide. If you don’t like the price or think your seat is too narrow, than fly another airline, take the bus or stay home. Stop trying to regulate everything. The airlines just became profitable in the past several years after most went through bankruptcy after decades of losing money. The are entitled to profit to the extent they can in a free market.
Perhaps the solution would be for the airlines to actually enforce the regulations on carry-on luggage that they have now. It’s unbelievable to watch what some people bring on the plane as a “carry-on.” Some of these pieces are full size luggage, and the gate attendants won’t say a thing. Then the passenger gets all riled up because the full size suitcase won’t fit in the overhead compartment, which was never designed to hold a bag that large.