Airlines creating bigger overhead lockers in bid to placate passengers
Rex
A number of airlines are attempting to prevent the on-board scramble to fit bags into overhead compartments - by making them bigger.
United and Delta are upgrading the lockers to hold more bags, and engineers at Boeing are designing new jets with today's bigger carry-ons in mind, according to the Daily Mail.
The problem of bag space has got worse since fees for checked-in luggage have gone up, and the size of hand luggage has got bigger.
The result? An unsightly 'fight' for space.
When designing bins on its new 787, Boeing sent workers to Costco and other stores to buy roll-aboard bags to make sure they would fit. The 787-8 holds 10% more carry-on bags than the larger 777, even though the volume inside the bins is about the same.
Kent Craver, Boeing's cabin expert, told the Daily Mail: "For passengers, volume doesn't really matter. It's whether or not my bag fits."
The extra space also makes it more likely that bags will end up next to the passenger who brought them.
Mr Craver added: "They don't want it 20 rows behind them or 20 rows in front of them, because that causes a lot of anxiety."
The other way to tackle the problem? Make sure your hand luggage is within the standard size, people.
Meanwhile, they don't want to be making more room for the wrong kind of luggage...
A Virgin Australia flight was delayed in Melbourne last month when a taser gun concealed in a camera bag fell out of someone's luggage stored in an overhead locker.
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