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Flight or Fight - Battle of the Overheads Bins: Another Factor Contributing to the Air Rage Phenomenon
Joyce A. Hunter
Last modified: 2010-05-05
Abstract
Baggage fees have been implemented within many of the airline carriers for both domestic and foreign travel. With the recent mandate for baggage fees by airlines, passengers are struggling to gain access to the overhead compartments. As more flyers use carry-on bags, there is less room in the bins. Six passengers are competing for overhead bin space designed to fit four wheelie bags. This condition leaves some fliers out of luck at a time when more of them are opting to lug their bags, rather than check them, to avoid airline fees.
Boarding lines move at a snail's pace when the last luggage bins are filled and passengers are forced to deplane and return to the jet bridge to check their bags.
The baggage situation has frustrated travelers and, for many of them, has added even more stress to their travel experience. This stress is a physiological and psychological experience of disruption to their homeostatic balance.
It has been documented that since the start of last year, the number of bags checked at the boarding gate has risen nearly 50 percent, while the volume of bags checked at the ticket counters has dropped 18 percent.
Air travel has changed over the past year and a half. Both the fees and space constraints can contribute to a breakdown in social conventions as passengers increasingly feel that they are left to fend for themselves. As planes fill and tensions rise, carriers are exploring ways to ease congestion in their aisles.
This paper will focus on strategies to deal with the battle for limited overhead bin space and explore solutions to alleviate the related passenger congestion in the aisle on board the aircraft.
Boarding lines move at a snail's pace when the last luggage bins are filled and passengers are forced to deplane and return to the jet bridge to check their bags.
The baggage situation has frustrated travelers and, for many of them, has added even more stress to their travel experience. This stress is a physiological and psychological experience of disruption to their homeostatic balance.
It has been documented that since the start of last year, the number of bags checked at the boarding gate has risen nearly 50 percent, while the volume of bags checked at the ticket counters has dropped 18 percent.
Air travel has changed over the past year and a half. Both the fees and space constraints can contribute to a breakdown in social conventions as passengers increasingly feel that they are left to fend for themselves. As planes fill and tensions rise, carriers are exploring ways to ease congestion in their aisles.
This paper will focus on strategies to deal with the battle for limited overhead bin space and explore solutions to alleviate the related passenger congestion in the aisle on board the aircraft.