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Airlines shrink carry-on bag size
#1
The world's largest airline association announced a new carry on bag size limit, as it aims to resolve how to squeeze everyone's carry-on luggage onto a crowded plane.

The rolling suitcase would be small enough to allow every passenger on a flight of 120 people or more to fit one bag in the overhead space near their seat, said Tom Windmuller, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) senior vice president for airport, passenger, cargo and security.

Windmuller said when he compared it to his own bags, he found it was smaller than his personal carry-on but bigger than his wife's.

The precise size is 55 centimeters (21 inches) tall, 35 centimeters (13.5 inches) wide and 20 centimeters (7.5 inches) deep.

Many airlines have different size requirements for carry-ons, which can lead to confusion, said Windmuller.

"This is a nuisance for everyone," he told reporters, adding that the sizing bins many airlines place near the gates are "ridiculous."

So the IATA consulted with Boeing and Airbus to come up with the optimum size.

Then they began talking with baggage manufacturers to urge them to start making bags that fit the parameters.

Windmuller said he expected the bags to be widely available by the end of the year, and that costs would range according to the quality and materials chosen by individual luggage makers.

Those that fit the IATA size specifications would be marked with a tag, or a label, that says "IATA Cabin OK."

However, this label will only be available on new bags, and not for travelers that may already have an ideally sized bag in their collection.

Airlines are not required to sign up for the program, but Windmuller said the response from airline executives has been favorable so far.

Windmuller said the IATA has already communicated with its 260 member airlines -- who operate 83 percent of global air traffic -- about the program.

http://news.yahoo.com/airline-industry-p...11606.html
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.. so it went down by roughly the size of an 8" cube, just enough to make everyone by new bags. It isn't mentioned but I'll bet the weight limit will drop as well down to 30 lbs from the current 40 lbs.

The airlines created this issue when they started charging $25-$35 each way for the first checked bag. If the fee was a reasonable $10-$15 each way or waived on the first bag, passengers wouldn't be overstuffing everything to the max in their carry on bags.
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#2
Conspiracy led by Samsonite?
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#3
Buck wrote:
Conspiracy led by Samsonite?

I blame the baggage handling gorillas.... :emoticon-animal-004:
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#4
First they charged to check in luggage. Now they shrunk the carry-on size. What next?
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#5
they never seem to shrink the prices though.......
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I reject your reality and substitute my own!
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#6
Ombligo wrote:
It isn't mentioned but I'll bet the weight limit will drop as well down to 30 lbs from the current 40 lbs.

Wow, is the existing weight limit really 40 lbs? I never looked it up, but assumed there was one, but went with the rule of thumb: "If I can lift it myself into the overhead compartment without looking like I'm struggling, no one will ask me how much it weighs". And it took a carry-on packed full of lenses and camera gear to exceed 40 lbs.
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#7
I hope they really tried fitting the number of bags that they claim into several different real aircraft to be sure that it fits, with all of the bin dividers, posts, equipment boxes, weird sloping angles, etc.

It seems like they would need to get at least one more bag per bin in order to change the total that they can carry.
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#8
Gareth wrote:
[quote=Ombligo]
It isn't mentioned but I'll bet the weight limit will drop as well down to 30 lbs from the current 40 lbs.

Wow, is the existing weight limit really 40 lbs? I never looked it up, but assumed there was one, but went with the rule of thumb: "If I can lift it myself into the overhead compartment without looking like I'm struggling, no one will ask me how much it weighs". And it took a carry-on packed full of lenses and camera gear to exceed 40 lbs.
I've never seen a carry-on get weighed, just checked bags. I just looked at American's requirements and the only thing they mention is that you need to be able to lift it.

Please note, you’ll also need to be able to lift your bag into the overhead bin

http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation...aggage.jsp
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#9
The IATA is international, and mostly the weights are enforced on international flights (if at all.) I have seen ginormous bags get checked....but I have also seen people hassled about heavy bags at check in for international flights.
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#10
55 centimeters x 35 centimeters x 20 centimeters are the dimensions of my carry on and 4 stacked on their sides fit in the outside overhead on a 787-8 nicely.

My camera case doesn't fit in it well though, real tight squeeze.
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