Particularly on low-cost flights and in the lower fare classes on longer flights, the issue of overhead baggage has become a perpetual struggle for both passengers and airlines.
After airlines started making it more and more expensive to bring a stowed bag on a short flight (mainstream carriers will generally include at least one free suitcase on a transatlantic flight), more passengers have been trying to reduce their expenses by packing all their items into a carry-on and bringing it aboard the plane. While this is a great strategy individually, this creates overhead compartment crowding and leads to airlines having to check the larger overhead bags for free when room runs out.
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Air carriers have been looking at different ways to overcome the problem and, on March 26, United Airlines (UAL) announced that it would be making the overhead bins on some of its newer planes larger. Without specifying the exact dimensions, United said that it would be retrofitting the bins on 50 of its current Embraer E175 (ERJ) jets by the end of 2024.
Image source: Robert Alexander/Getty Images
United Airlines says it is 'helping to eliminate the need to gate check bags'
These planes have 76 seats each and are generally used for shorter, domestic flights (the kind during which anyone not traveling in business or having additional perks through travel or a credit card generally has to pay to stow a suitcase.)
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"Customer sentiment for the new overhead bins and signature interiors has been extremely positive," United's Chief Customer Officer Linda Jojo said in a statement. "By helping to eliminate the need to gate check bags, we are seeing an increase in gate and boarding satisfaction."
According to United, this will bring down the number of people who need to check their bags at the gate to one million passengers on over 150,000 E175 flights per year. Jojo further said that they are looking to streamline the baggage rules and "create an industry-leading experience for all our customers, whether they're on an international or regional flight."
Overhead bin issues persist as airlines make checking a bag more expensive
At the end of February, United raised the cost of checking a bag to $35 if booked online at least 24 hours before the flight and $40 if booked at the airport. A second suitcase will cost travelers $50. Those three prices are all a $5 increase from what the airline had been charging for the last four years.
This change was part of a domino effect in which other airlines such as JetBlue Airways (JBLU) , Alaska Airlines (ALK) and American Airlines (AAL) all followed each other in increasing their baggage fees.
The reasons for the change stated by the airlines consistently came down to inflation and the rising cost of running an airline but, with checking a bag becoming more and more expensive, there has also been a spike in people looking to fit their belongings into cabin-size bags. Planes, many of which are several decades old, were in turn generally built at a time when more people were able to check bags for free and brought fewer and smaller bags into the cabin.
