Carry On Crackdown in Effect: 22x14x9...But I didn't know..?
Travel pro George Hobica experienced something last month at New York LaGuardia Airport that had never happened to him before — the airline rejected his carry-on bag.
Told by an American Airlines Inc. representative that his 15-inch-wide bag exceeded the airline’s 14-inch width limit for carry-ons, Hobica was sent trudging from the security checkpoint back to the ticket counter to check his bag (HAHA)
He made his flight, but he came away from the experience convinced that something has changed at the airlines — if not the rules, then the enforcement of those rules.
“They’re being persnickety,” Hobica, Airfarewatchdog.com president, suggested Thursday.
Hobica didn’t know if his was an isolated incident. But after he recounted his experience in an article in early June, he heard from many other travelers saying they too had been caught in a carry-on crackdown, not just on American but other big carriers.
“A lot of people said, ‘I had the same problem.’ ‘Same thing happened to me.’ ‘Same thing happened to me, but different airline,’” Hobica said.
“The sizes have been more or less the same, but the policies as far as enforcement have definitely changed,” Hobica said.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said Thursday that his carrier’s policies for the size of carry-ons have been the same since 2008, although it recently made merger partner US Airways’ policies consistent with American’s.
American and US Airways, as well as Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Inc., have the same size limits: The length of a carry-on bag can be no more than 22 inches, the width can be no more than 14 inches and the depth can be no more than 9 inches.
“The size restrictions have not changed. In 2008, we introduced the 22-by-14-by-9 bag sizers. In 2010, we standardized measurements by putting signage out that says that all bags must fit in the sizers and not exceed those dimensions,” Miller said.
Some other U.S. carriers have higher limits. Southwest Airlines Co., Frontier Airlines Inc., Virgin America Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. all set the limits at 24 by 16 by 10inches. (Frontier began charging travelers a minimum of $25 for a carry-on bag this spring.)
In June, American and US Airways added some flexibility to allow some odd-shaped items like poster tubes that exceed the 22-inch length limit but whose length, width and depth total no more than 45 inches. In addition, they’ll allow soft-sided garment bags if the three dimensions don’t exceed 51 inches.
Miller said the carry-on rules are designed to help the carriers get their flights out on time. In addition, it’s important for American and US Airways to align their policies as they prepare to eventually put their operations together, he said.
Hobica said United in March changed its rules to make its carry-on limits more restrictive. Before, its contract of carriage said that no side of the bag could be more than 22 inches and the total of the three dimensions could not exceed 45 inches. Now, the rules spell out the maximums of 22, 14 and 9 inches, he said.
