Originally Posted by
SpringHeeledJack
Now that I've got your attention ;-) I have taken 2 flights recently where I was sitting on the last 2 rows of the aircraft and did both a rear entry and exit both sectors, so in fact it was no real hardship I don't normally sit at the back for whatever reasons, but not the "I only turn left darling" attributed to a Sloane-y acquaintance back in the 90's. At the rear of the aircraft the last 2 overhead lockers on both sides covering 4 rows of seats were very full with items belonging to the crew and company, rendering no storage space for those who had paid for larger cabin baggage items. The crew just shrugged their shoulders and were no help to those affected. So my question is why do both airlines and manufacturers plan and allow this to happen ? I had a small rucksack, so could tuck it under the seat in front, but for many of the others it was either 'steal' overhead space from other passengers in the rows in front causing arguments , or suffer the matter of no foot/leg space. In this case the aircraft were Airbus, but in the past I've seen it on Boeing and McDonnell Douglas et al when visiting the rear toilets and galley. Why purposely annoy and alienate the very people paying for your services, namely the customers ? Surely the crew deserve a small space, even one that goes under floor level to house their personal items etc ? Thoughts welcomed, it just seems illogical, rather like those lovely IFE boxes that BA used to have on the 777's that took more than half of the passenger's footspace on long haul flights.
Getting back to the original point raised. Ultimately, the configuration is down to the airlines. The majority of whom, cram in as many seats as possible, so no locker/stowage space for crew bags. That coupled with the fact, that most passengers on short haul would rather take their bag on board, than check it in [even if their bag check in is free] for speed at the other end, plus the fact it might go missing if checked in. Even more than the normal 'scrum' of passengers [and crew] cramming bags into the overhead, most are completely oblivious to the weight limit stickers in all the overhead lockers. I wonder if passengers [and crew] would be so happy with everything crammed in, if they knew how lightweight the fixings for the overhead bins actually were
[there is a reason for the weight limit]
With regard to the large IFE boxes under the seats, again it's all down to what airlines think passengers want and what passenger expectations are regarding IFE. I remember when I started working on airliners, then still had in-flight projectors, mounted up in the ceiling, that were so heavy they had to be winced up into position [You definitely wouldn't want one of those falling down on you!]
Airlines don't always get thing right though regarding what they think passengers will want. One of the big 'flops' for the vast majority of carriers were the in-flight telephone systems. They were just far too expensive for the majority of passengers to ever think of using..