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

ExXB
 

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:

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

What dilemma ?!?

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

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.

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...

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

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.

In many instances, the short haul flight is pre- or post- long haul one.....

The Smaller the better
 

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.

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

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)

That's one country eliminated then!
 

Airlines For America | U.S. Airlines Reject Smaller Carry-On Initiative

I think the URL says it all!

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"?

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