Not every customer of American Airlines is dancing in front of Terminal 3 at O’Hare International Airport celebrating the airline’s decision to have passengers put carry-on luggage through a baggage sizer.
The bag sizer, which will be installed Wednesday on X-ray machines at the airline’s security checkpoints around the country, will limit passengers to a carry-on no bigger than 9 inches by 15 inches. Unlike the United Airlines baggage sizer, which was installed last year, the American sizer has a cutout to allow the pockets, which many people stuff, to pass easily through.
Many people who describe themselves as loyal customers of American, a unit of Ft. Worth-based AMR Corp., have called to complain about the decision. Some have even written.
Dan Martin, a partner in Economic Research Associates in Chicago, is particularly incensed.
“The new bag sizer galls me. It’s not needed, is a bit insulting and further brutalizes the travel experience,” Martin said.
“While security checkpoints are necessary, they are the most edgy moments in travel. You’re instructed not to tell jokes. Idle conversation stops as you approach the moment of scrutiny. It’s one of those weird moments when the Bill of Rights takes a holiday and you’re treated as guilty until proven innocent and the people with the authority are inflexible and not customer-service oriented,” Martin said in a voice-mail message delivered at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
“The airlines have hijacked that moment to criminalize people with bags even a skoosh too big for the almighty template. . . . This has nothing to do with security. . . . It’s having someone else do your dirty work.”
Besides, big bags have nothing to do with a plane leaving on time, said Martin and others who called. More mundane logistical issues such as cleaning and turnaround time are responsible for that. Get the cleaning crews out earlier and the airlines can start loading earlier, said those who called.
Martin concluded: “As I board another $1,000 round-trip flight to Syracuse, knowing that Virgin (Atlantic Airways) would get me to London and back for less than that, I’m reminded again of the increase in the powerlessness of consumers in travel–as other industries seek to become more service-oriented.”
Just think what Martin would have said if he had taken time to compose his thoughts.
Last minute: Five years ago, the nation’s airlines created a demand for short-notice weekend trips by offering deeply discounted tickets that required passengers to leave after 6 p.m. Friday and return Monday or Tuesday of the next week.
Priceline.com Inc. created a market for low-demand seats by offering to link passengers to dirt cheap fares even if it meant traveling to Chicago from Dallas by way of Memphis and Detroit. Until last week, however, three of the country’s biggest airlines–United Airlines, a unit of Elk Grove Township-based UAL Corp,; US Airways, a unit of Arlington, Va.-based US Airways Group Inc.; and American–had refused to participate in the program that allows customers to bid for a flight.
Now LastMinuteTravel.com Inc. will list offers from thousands of flights posted on its Web site each day by the nation’s airlines.
Unlike Priceline, LastMinuteTravel is starting with a huge advantage: The country’s 12 biggest carriers have signed on.
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E-mail comments to John Schmeltzer at jschmeltzer@tribune.com
