Folks, the issue of carry on luggage is a North American phenomenon and is definitely not limited to AC. The whole problem is that the SLF over there are too used to treating flying like hopping on a bus, that is then compounded by the airports & the security screening staff in particular being unwilling to take the abuse from passengers by refusing to screen them with so many carry os & telling them to return to check-in to check at least some of their bags.
In the past year, about the worst I saw was flying from Houston to Atlanta on an MD-88 with 3/2 seat configuration and minimal overhead & underseat stowage, one guy turned up at the gate with his girlfriend, & another friend, their baby in non-folding pram, car seat, large box, approx 2 foot square x four foot long two large trolley suitcases about three foot x two x 12 inches, a large trolley brief case for the two guys, a huge shopping type bag with blankets, nappies etc. for the baby and two large rucsacs. How he got through check-in & security I have no idea, but he was completely out of order when the gate staff told him that he had to check everything except the briefcases. He spent almost fifteen minutes shouting and yelling abuse at the gate staff & his girlfriend then called the airline's customer service on his cell phone to complain & demanded that a supervisor be sent down to the gate to instruct the gate staff to let him take all his crap on board with him. As the flight was chockers, his party were all on standby economy tickets and taking up the last free seats on the flight, he was on a hiding to nothing. What an A
E!
I am always amused as well when flying from EDI across the pond when our North American cousins get to the security area ticket check after managing to sneak a couple of large bags past check-in, as they don't get much chance to sneak past the ticket check, never mind get through security screening with big bags. They are never very happy when they have to try to fit their oversize and overweight carry-ons into the test frame & scales, and when they fail to fit - Ah Justice.
