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Carrying On in the Luggage Wars
The Travel Critic · May 25, 2000

If you think the airline carry-on luggage crisis is over, you should meet Jessimy McKown.

The former Marine was flying from Detroit to Portland, Oregon, on Northwest Airlines when a duffel bag fell out of the overhead bin where a passenger was trying to stuff it. The bag's strap snagged McKown's 10-week-old daughter, Madeline, and pulled the infant to the floor.

According to an emergency room CAT scan, the baby was unharmed. But three years after the incident, McKown says she remains concerned that the fall has had long-term effects on her daughter. When she hears about a Wichita State University/University of Nebraska study of airline quality that concludes there's been a "slight improvement in baggage handling," she remembers the accident and has her doubts.

Since Madeline's fall, Northwest has instituted a "one-plus" carry-on rule, which prevents passengers from carrying duffel bags and other oversized items on board, says Northwest spokesman Jon Austin. The child's mishap is not the sole cause of the policy change - the airline also has heard complaints from employees about too much luggage, for example - but Austin says Northwest hopes the new measures will free some overhead space and reduce the potential for injuries to passengers.

"In this case, it's so unusual that a strap would get caught on a child that was this small, that I'm not sure there's a general fix," he says.

Perhaps not, but there's a compelling argument that airlines need to do something to fix problems that stem from luggage, especially the bags travelers check before boarding.

The number of mishandled-baggage complaints to the United States Department of Transportation remains high: There were about 2.5 million incidents last year 52,177 more than in 1998. Put differently, on an average commercial flight, at least one passenger is likely to lose his or her checked luggage. In last year's airline satisfaction survey, poorly handled baggage accounted for Southwest Airline's descent in airline rankings.

Things are hardly better in the passenger compartment, where bins crowded with carry-on parcels may increase the likelihood of an injury like that the infant Madeline suffered. Airlines acknowledge at least two other comparable mishaps. Geraldine Margolis was left with brain damage after a metal frame rolled out of a compartment and onto her head on a United Airlines flight. And a case of rum fell out of a bin on a Delta Air Lines flight, felling Frances Hodges.

According to Russell Robison, the executive director of Injury Prevention Works, an Erie, Pennsylvania, industry-lobbying group, 12 passengers are hurt by falling overhead luggage every day in the United States alone.

Small wonder that the overhead bins are packed. Passengers' mistrust of airline baggage handling runs so deep that few experienced travelers bother checking their luggage if they can avoid it. The result is often a confrontation at the gate or, worse still, in the cabin.

When Akiko Mitsui refused to check her regulation-size carry-on after she'd boarded a Continental Airlines flight, for example, a crewmember had her removed from the plane. That's becoming a common remedy for handling travelers who would sooner sit with their luggage on their lap than entrust it to an airline.

In a previous column I proposed eliminating the overhead bins entirely which would not only remove the threat to passengers like Madeline McKown, but also prevent passengers such as Mitsui from missing her flight. Alas, airlines like Continental responded by increasing the size of the overhead bins. So much for that.

Fellow travel commentator David Kirby, who writes a weekly column for the Web site Ticked.com, believes airlines ought to at least reward passengers who carry no baggage. The minimalists should be allowed to board and depart the plane first, leaving the rest to wait patiently in their seats, he says.

I like the idea in principle, but given how passionately travelers feel about their right to haul as much luggage on the plane as they can carry, I'm afraid such a policy might instigate riots.

How about shipping the luggage? Well, a company called Virtual Bellhop does offer that kind of thing, but I'm not impressed by it. For close to half a year, its public-relations company has been hounding me to try the door-to-door service. When I finally agreed to give it a try on a recent trip from Baltimore to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Virtual Bellhop quoted me a round-trip rate of $600 for between 50 and 75 pounds of luggage. It was more expensive than my plane ticket. I couldn't do that.

The answer is accountability - specifically, airlines holding themselves accountable for your luggage. It's about airlines guaranteeing that the bags arrive when you do. It's about them building a robust tracking system that's sophisticated enough to pinpoint your bags from an airline Web site (Northwest is working on one). And it's about airlines going above and beyond the federally mandated per-passenger liability of $2,500 for lost luggage; they also should offer vouchers and heartfelt apologies when they fail to meet your expectations - or your luggage fails to meet you at the right place.

Until then, we can expect the overhead bins to be nearly bursting.

Perhaps we should all consider flying with a helmet.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.