IATA Wants to Shrink Carry-On Bag Size

[Mark in CA]

The recommendation, by the International Air Transport Association, suggests an optimal carry-on size of 21.5 inches in height, 13.5 inches wide and 7.5 inches deep. That’s smaller than the maximum size allowed by many airlines. For instance, American, Delta and United Airlines all allow bags up to 22 inches by 14 inches by 9 inches.

This is the IATA press release. "Perfect-size" carry-on bag?

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/airline-industry-proposes-perfect-size-170853020.html

[Swissflyer]

You may be interested to learn this is part of a bigger "idea" for IATA to license bag manufacturers for bags that conform with the new standard and provide some form of IATA certified logo on the bag that will.... Wait for it.. Guarantee the bag can be carried onboard the flight.

IATA gets new revenue stream, bag manufacturers sell loads of new carry-on certified bags and we end up with the need to replace our carry-on luggage that no longer conforms to the "standard"..

Apart from the obvious business opportunity, this is in part a response to the unintended consequence of densing up aircraft to the point where the carry-on baggage storage bins can no longer accomodate the carry-on allowance of every passenger on an aircraft.

[perantau]

Everybody wins except for the paying passenger :mad:

[Dash8driver1312]

Without playing devil's advocate too much, how many people stick to the regulations printed on their tickets?

I see all too often people coming in with a large stroller, a shoulder bag and at least one large bag of duty free, and refusing to store any of that in the space under the seat in front.

[Hotel Tango]

That's due mainly to poor and inconsistent policing by ground personnel and cabin crew. If passengers get away with it once they will continue to try it on regardless.

[PAXboy]

Agreed Hotel Tango. We have all seen folks on the same flight with Minimum. Standard and Ridiculous cabin bags. For the most part, ground agents have realised the abuse they get if they stop them and cabin crew know that to stop them will delay departure. Naturally, pax know this.

Last year, departing BOD, I had put my duty free into the hand case and had my small laptop bag outside - to make for easy access onboard. I was told (politely) that the laptop had to be inside the hand case.

So I reversed the two and carried the duty free bag on. Before I sat down, I reversed themn again. I know the rules BUT watching others with a single bag OUTSIDE the reg that is NOT tested but waved through??? That's highly irritating...

[Ancient Observer]

If this goes through I will be exceedingly pi**ed off.
My relatively expensive case was bought to the specific BA allowable on board spec. To the centimeter!!

As Swissflyer says, this is just about money for IATA and the bag makers. Customers can just f.o.

[lomapaseo]

It's just not realistic to continue stories about IATA making money on this to enrich themselves.

IATA is made up of members that have to abide by laws of their states and collusion is frowned upon by enough of them that no group could possibly benefit directly monetarily,

In the end it's up to voluntary compliance with this suggestion so voice your objections by choosing your carrier as you do today.

What the carriers are hoping is that the passengers will rush to buy new bags fitting the new suggested sizes. If enough of you don't fall for this, the carriers will have to subcome and come up with other alternatives to charge you for carry-ons according to what the market will bear (some pay, others don't)

[mixture]

As Swissflyer says, this is just about money for IATA and the bag makers. Customers can just f.o.

What he said.

It's just not realistic to continue stories about IATA making money on this to enrich themselves.

Lets see, I'm guessing its going to go down the normal commercial route of ...

IATA getting a trademark on the "IATA OK BAG" logo.
IATA licensing said logo to manufacturers
IATA receiving an upfront payment and/or ongoing royalties for said license

In the end it's up to voluntary compliance with this suggestion so voice your objections by choosing your carrier as you do today.

Maybe, but frankly what carrier is going to vote for Christmas ? They're all going to fall into line like dominos.... the smaller sizes enable them to cram in more SLF, the "IATA OK" logo means they don't need to have bag sizes and cages any more .... they just need to introduce a "Anything without an IATA OK is strictly verboten" rule in their conditions of carriage.

Personally, I find it quite ironic that the IATA mission statement says :

Advocating for the interests of airlines across the globe, we challenge unreasonable rules and charges

One rule for them and one rule for us eh ... :rolleyes:

I see the IATA has a regional office in Florida, are you sure you don't work there lomapaseo ? :E

[ExXB]

IATA no longer charges membership dues to its airline members. They make their money by selling products and services. Although technically 'not-for-profit' that principle does not extend to its senior management who receive large bonuses on top of their large salaries and benefits.

They constantly need to come up with new money making schemes. What used to be free or at cost (to members) is a thing of the past. Their Dangerous Goods Manual costs a bomb (pun intended) but every office on the planet that sells cargo has to have an up to date one to hand.

This appears to be yet another attempt to separate money from the punters, via bag manufacturers.

But don't be mistaken, they are a trade association of the airlines. They don't give a stuff for the airline's customers; you and me.

[lomapaseo]

I see the IATA has a regional office in Florida, are you sure you don't work there lomapaseo ?

Chuckle,

I stand by what I said. IATA can charge airlines what they want, after all it's like dues. If IATA were to go outside of the their charter with the airlines than big brothers from all the countries would step in and slap them down.

I await any move by IATA in this way before I will move and alert the regulators in my country.

[mockingjay]

To be honest it's not the size of bags that's the issue. It's people who expect there to be space for their bag, their handbag, their coat and their purchases from the terminal. Trying to explain that there's physically not enough room for 186 to fit everything up there falls on deaf ears and nobody will put anything under their feet as they want the leg space for their 40 minute domestic hop and winter GVA flights are carnage as they're ALWAYS full and people have bulky ski gear with them. The introduction of coat hooks on seats doesn't seem to have helped neither as people still want them in the overhead.

Look at a major airline's guaranteed bag (if your bag was below X size it was guaranteed to fly in the cabin) which was a complete failure and they have abandoned it as the guaranteed part only worked if you would put it under the seat, which nobody would. It didn't help that the press at the time were pushing stories about how they had reduced the size of allowable baggage in the cabin, which was not true. You get people who will happily sit there watching other people's bags being offloaded whilst their bag is in the overhead when it can easily fit under the seat.

Bring on charging for the over head a la Spirit/Allegiant/WIZZ. There is clearly strong demand for the overheads so charging for them seems the next logical step.

[PAXboy]

ExXB
IATA no longer charges membership dues to its airline members. They make their money by selling products and services. Although technically 'not-for-profit' that principle does not extend to its senior management who receive large bonuses on top of their large salaries and benefits.Naturally, no one is suggesting that IATA are friends of Sepp ... :eek:

[PAXboy]

You're going to need to get a new suitcase - UK - News - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/airline-association-to-reduce-the-size-of-your-carryon-bag-10309614.html)
The IATA represents 260 major scheduled carriers, currently accounting for 83 per cent of air traffic.

So far eight major airlines, including Emirates, Lufthansa and Qatar, have announced they will be implementing the new "best size" dimensions of of 55 x 35 x 20 cm. This is 21 per cent smaller than the average dimensions of major American airliners, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, according to the Washington Post.mixture
Lets see, I'm guessing its going to go down the normal commercial route of ...

IATA getting a trademark on the "IATA OK BAG" logo.Airliners have been working with IATA to design baggage that can be labelled “Cabin OK”. This means all cabin baggage will fit into a cabin on a plane with 120 passengers.
Spot on mixture. :uhoh:

[RevMan2]

We wouldn't have a problem if airlines applied consistent and robust enforcement of current regs.....

(I find it highly amusing that Lufthansa was one of the first to jump on the bandwagon and is currently actively marketing its own branded line of Rimowa trollies. Larger than the proposed IATA standard...)

[Hotel Tango]

I'm no legal eagle but I question the legality of changing these rules overnight without a fair and adequate period of notice. As a Miles & More FF, I recently purchased a cabin bag from the Lufthansa shop which boasted it met their (and most airlines') maximum cabin baggage dimensions. Although it fits snugly in even the smallest commuter aircraft, my bag now technically fails to meet one of those new "IATA" dimensions by 6cm. I therefore wonder if they could face litigation by a determined and organised group of their own disgruntled frequent flyers?

[lomapaseo]

I'm no legal eagle but I question the legality of changing these rules overnight without a fair and adequate period of notice.

It's not a rule, it's a suggestion.

The airlines can do what they want. I'm sure that the airline that sold it to you will compensate you somehow on a pro-rated basis. Consider this the beginning of your period of notice. tick tick tick.

[Hotel Tango]

I'm sure that the airline that sold it to you will compensate you somehow on a pro-rated basis.

:) This is Europe!

[VinceVermotti]

for those who fly with an American airline here's a list of the size and wieght limits by airline Carry On Luggage Rules: Weight and Size Requirements (http://www.carryonluggage.info/carry-on-luggage-rules-weight-and-size/)

[ExXB]

Two things ...

The IATA standard is the same, or less in all three dimensions, than what airlines allow today. If you have a bag to their standard you should have no issue with any airline that your bag may be too big. But you are giving up volume.

Some airlines (AC, WS) have already said they wont reduce their sizes to the IATA standard.

Second, and I've only seen this on a video clip on IATA's site. The OK label looks like it is part of the bag, and, has a unique code on it. Apparently if you register the code you can be reconciled with a lost bag much easier. Of course these are carry-on bags and very few of those are ever lost. Wonder if the bag manufacturers will do same with checked bags.

http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2015-06-09-02.aspx

[paully]

Ah yes, IATA..The wonderful organisation that conspired to keep air fares high, for decades.They were described by the late Freddie Laker as Bums and Gangsters.

That is all you need to know, as well as the fact they are an almost total irrelevance in this day and age..

Airlines will set their baggage limits, company by company no more no less

[Mr @ Spotty M]

I have not found one airline that has a size restriction which meets the IATA dimensions.
Every airline on the link which VinceVermotti posted is outside the IATA dimensions, KLM being the closest.
I checked the two major European carries (pax numbers) Easyjet & Ryanair, plus my own airline and they do not meet the dimensions either.
I am someone who does not bring a wheeled case inside the a/c, l put my one where it belongs in the hold.
Yes the new size is going to be a inconvenience and be an extra cost for a lot of people, but it could be worse.
Maybe the FAA & EASA should be looking at banning the carrying of bags, until passengers can be trusted not to carry them when carrying out an emergency evacuation, as seems to be the norm now. :mad:

[ExXB]

What I meant to say is that if you buy an IATA sized bag it will be no larger than the most restrictive maximum size imposed by any airline.

[ExXB]

Maybe the FAA & EASA should be looking at banning the carrying of bags, until passengers can be trusted not to carry them when carrying out an emergency evacuation, as seems to be the norm now. :mad:

Yes we have seen that recently, but the interesting thing is that there have been few, if any, reports on how this selfish activity has impacted on the evacuation.

It is a bit of a dilemma, you shouldn't put your valuables in checked bags (the airline assumes no liability if you do), you can't put your medications there either for obvious reasons and you must keep your identity documents etc. with you.

But in an emergency you are asked to abandon all of the above to destruction, loss or long delay in retrieval. I can fully understand why some are tempted to keep their stuff with them. If you look at OZ crash at SFO some pax took their bags with them, some did not. I doubt those that did not ever saw their property again, or if they did not for many days afterwards. In hindsight who was the idiot?

And what is the 'rule' anyway? Are passengers permitted anything besides themselves and the clothes they wear? What about a small handbag? (I have one smaller than most ladies bags, that I keep my insulin kit and documents in); what about a bumbag; a small backpack, a ...?

I agree with you that the safety experts need to give their serious attention to this issue and to determine if existing rules are appropriate and what enhancements or amendments are appropriate. Human nature, instinct, is to keep our stuff with us (and I'm keeping my small bag with me).

So, perhaps reducing cabin bag size is a very good thing.

[alserire]

Reducing bag size will make NO difference until regulations are actually implemented. Flew FRA-DUB on LH last Friday. Vastly oversized bags. People bringing two bags on and one guy with a suit bag trying to make sure it didn't get creased!! Unreal. EI are as bad if not worse. And it affects departure times. No doubt about that in my mind. Surprised at LH. everything else in my experience with them is flawless and I have no complaints but it seems even the order loving Germans don't want to upset Pax. And you can check a 23kg bag in for free with them. I only ever take on a lap top bag that has a couple of pockets you can throw a few other things in. I mean, how much do you need for a short haul flight?

I just don't get it.

[RevMan2]

This is morphing into 2 threads - one about carry-on size and the enforcement thereof (I'm all for robust and consistent controls of existing regs, which would make the problem go away) and a second concerning folks deboarding in an emergency with carry-ons.
Solution? Central locking function for overhead bins, activated by crew at off-blocks and de-activated at on-blocks with a physical overide key as a a failsafe

[Hotel Tango]

I mean, how much do you need for a short haul flight?

I agree to a point and I'm not disputing the need for only 1 bag etc., but short haul or not, some of us do have more than a lap top to take with us and it's not the kind of equipment that we would risk as hold baggage.

[PAXboy]

If I may, I think HT that is the exception. Watching holiday pax get away with it on ALL carriers is highly irritating and counter productive to the carrier.

[mixture]

It is a bit of a dilemma, you shouldn't put your valuables in checked bags (the airline assumes no liability if you do)

What dilemma ?!?

There's this little thing called travel insurance (combined with thoughtful packing).

[mixture]

it's not the kind of equipment that we would risk as hold baggage.

I never understand people who baby their equipment.

How do you think the equipment got to you in the first place other than in the hold of an aircraft, followed by the back of various delivery vans ?

How do you think people like broadcasters survive ? They dump practically everything in the hold because they've got little choice given the volumes involved.

Insurance and a modicum of intelligence when packing. You don't need Peli cases.

[MG23]

There's this little thing called travel insurance (combined with thoughtful packing).

Because no-one actually has stuff in their baggage that they actually need for their trip. Last business trip I made, the airline lost my bag, and I'd have been screwed if I didn't have the important stuff in the cabin with me.

Just another reason to fly as little as possible these days...

[PAXboy]

Further thread drift but the videos in 'Quality Baggage Handling' are one reason!

[Hotel Tango]

Oh mixture please, that old "insurance" chestnut. The equipment I carry I need to use almost immediately upon arrival. Sorting out insurance paperwork and then having to go out and try and replace the equipment in a foreign country is the last thing I want to be doing when I've just forked out thousands of pounds (of my own money) for a trip which becomes useless without said equipment. But the point I was really making is that it is a little flippant to assume that we all only need a lap top when traveling as alserire suggests.

[Bidule]

I mean, how much do you need for a short haul flight?In many instances, the short haul flight is pre- or post- long haul one.....

[carousel]

Has it not occurred to anyone that one of the reasons for long queues when at security, is the need now to x-ray and screen one if not two pieces of HOLD luggage for each pax, plus handbags, manbags, hats, coats, boots and sundry other pieces of electrical an photographic clutterbuckery that is essential to carry on to the flight.Reduce to one "small" bag per pax, it would reduce the queues at the gates as well.

[MarcK]

Even better, don't fly at all. No baggage to worry about. The queues will be shorter.:ugh:

[Heathrow Harry]

Unless and until baggage size checks are taken away from the airlines and made by a 3rd Party - Group4 or some of the other friendly, welcoming security organisations we know and love - people will push their luck

Ever see the "Excess Baggage Family " sketch on "Goodness Gracious Me" a few years back?

and of course no-one will do anything about duty free or air-side purchases

the only answer would be to stop people taking ANYTHING into the cabin (which I think happened after 911)

[Hartington]

Airlines For America | U.S. Airlines Reject Smaller Carry-On Initiative (http://airlines.org/news/us-airlines-reject-smaller-carry-on-initiative/)

I think the URL says it all!

[Hartington]

I'm with HotelTango. I used to carry a laptop on business. The idea of having to find a replacement for one that's gone astray doesn't bear thinking about. Yes, OK, it wasn't my money but in those days the cloud didn't exist and there used to be a lot of work on the disc. I suspect there still is on many work laptops.

Now I carry a DSLR with three lenses, a laptop and a (small) portable hard disc. With all the cables etc and a lightweight pullover, a change of underwear and socks, confirmations to show immigration and a book that all fits neatly in a backpack that (just) fits most sizers. Long haul I tend to travel PE and that gets a bit of leeway. Last year I was on an RJ and they asked me to gate check. The camera kit is in a removable pod and the laptop in a neoprene sleeve so I let them take the rest and put the camera under the seat in front with the laptop between my seat and the sidewall.

I've looked at shipping in advance. Put the stuff in something like a Peli case and consign it to FedEx. It's doable, if a bit pricey. I've never really investigated but where do I send it to? My first hotel? Do they have secure storage until I turn up? Do FedEx do the equivalent of "Poste Restante"?

[Hartington]

Mixture - thank you. I should have found that myself.

[ExXB]

Apparently the IATA VP responsible for this is 'retiring' in August.

[PAXboy]

Nothing like gaining instant, global condemnation for your organisation to endear you to your colleagues ... yet, they will have been working this for months and everyone agreeing! They do not appear to have market tested the idea or simply used common sense!

Here's another backtrack:
After objections from passengers, however, the IATA have issued a clarifying statement saying that the proposed restrictions are not a maximum but an “optimum” size and that airlines will still be allowed to set their own larger limits.

Air passengers may rest assured after last week’s announcement that air lines would see carry-on bags shrink, that the new guidelines are only an "optimum" size. Carry-on baggage guidelines shrink but airline passengers are told there's 'no need to worry' - News & Advice - Travel - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/carryon-baggage-guidelines-shrink-but-airline-passengers-are-told-theres-no-need-to-worry-10323453.html)

[ExXB]

PaxBoy, what I'm hearing (from a friend of a friend who knows someone that used to work there) is that internal advice from the 'experts' (i.e. ex-airline people) was that this was a very bad idea. The airline members were not consulted beforehand either, it was just assumed that they would love the idea.

[RevMan2]

Classic brainfart from someone who has ZERO idea of airline processes or customer expectations

[Hartington]

Yup, F-Stop. Love it to bits!

I'm just investigating Peak Design straps. They have a rather clever quick release doohickey that attaches to the camera to which you can attach various straps. Only just put it on the camera (lieterally 5 mins ago) and after a few butter fingers threading issues I'm raher impressed. Time will tell.