• What's ticked?
• Accolades
• Contact us

c o l u m n s

• Cheap Charlie
• ChrisCrossings
• Err Travel
• Leocha
• Travel Notes
• Archives

Carry-on Catastrophe
ChrisCrossings · November 4, 1999

Q: Last night my fiancee was flying to Huntsville, Ala., from San Francisco via Atlanta on Delta Air Lines for her cousin's wedding. Since she was seated near the front of the plane, she was one of the last people to get on. She was carrying a wedding gift. It was not very big or particularly expensive, but it had great sentimental value. She discovered to her disappointment that there was no room in any of the overhead compartments to store her gift. A member of the flight crew said that she could look at the compartments in the back of the plane, but if there was no room she would have to check it. As my fiancee began to walk towards the back of the plane with her package, however, the stewardess started yelling at her. "I told you to check that package" she screeched, and practically snatched the gift from my fiancee's arms. She gave her no tag and didn't bother to ask what her final destination would be. When my fiancee arrived in Huntsville, the package was no where to be found. When she went to lost luggage they demanded to see her baggage receipt, which of course she didn't have. Now she has no gift for the wedding, we're out fifty bucks, and Delta couldn't give a damn. How on earth can they get away with this kind of behavior? How far will the airlines go before they push travelers to the breaking point?

-- Douglas Heise

A: Your fiancee is not alone. I receive hundreds of e-mails (and often many more) specifically complaining about the dwindling amount of overhead space on aircraft. Often, these letters are accompanied by tales of mistreatment at the hands of flight attendants. Yours is one of the more extreme cases, but it can get worse. It isn't uncommon for passengers to be removed from a flight before it takes off because they get into a fight with an air host -- and I use that term lightly -- over carryon luggage.

It might be helpful to understand where everyone is coming from in order to prevent your wedding gift fiasco from ever repeating itself. The airline is under tremendous pressure to get the flight in the air during the boarding process. Carriers are judged by their on-time departure and arrival numbers compiled by the United States Department of Transportation. When a passenger can't find adequate overhead space for a bag, it increases the chance of a late departure -- and that doesn't just inconvenience the airline, it also affects travelers trying to make connections or appointments at the aircraft's destination.

From the flight attendant's perspective, your fiancee is a troublemaker. There are always one or two passengers who think they're exempt from the rules, which is probably what the first crewmember thought when your fiancee made a break for the back of the plane. At this point, it might have been prudent to relay to flight attendant #1 what flight attendant #2 had suggested, but that's a minor point. The first flight attendant was left with the impression that you weren't following her directions. That's a serious offense on a plane -- moreso than on the ground -- and in some circumstances it could get you arrested and led off the aircraft like a criminal.

One airline insider I recently interviewed admitted that flight attendants have been given broader power to remove problem passengers from a flight before it leaves the gate. This is a significant departure from "the customer is always right." While some of these changes are happening against the backdrop of a surge in air rage incidents and touted as a new safety measure, I think it's also reasonable to assume the flight attendants are pleased with this power shift. It effectively turns them from flying waiters into cops.

I hardly need to explain the passenger point of view. Airlines lose luggage with alarming regularity -- on some airlines, an average of one in 2500 bags goes missing -- while other checked-in luggage is mistreated or misdirected to the wrong airport. Can anyone blame travelers for trying to carry everything on the plane?

Looking back, your fiancee could have easily mailed the gift. And I would seriously recommend that anyone with something valuable or fragile to carry on a flight should give the postal service some consideration. Not only does it eliminate the hassle of carrying something bulky that might have to get checked in, it also minimizes any unpleasant interactions between you and the crew.

The flight attendant who didn't bother to ask where your fiancee was flying to was without question negligent. If you are unable to prove that you had check luggage in, you won't be able to recover anything from Delta. I suspect that the air host who confronted your fiancee was exasperated, under lots of pressure, and ready to exert her newly-granted power at the slightest provocation. The march toward the back of the plane proved to be the proverbial last straw. In her haste to scold your fiancee, however, she threw protocol out the window.

Does Delta not care? No, the Delta employee didn't give a damn about what happened to the bag. It's important to not bake the whole airline in the same pie. My suggestion: write a polite and short letter to Delta explaining the situation. Include specific flight numbers where possible, and a name of the flight attendant, if you have one. This kind of abusive crew behavior, though regrettable, is becoming more common, and your fiancee is an unfortunate victim of it. She deserves to be compensated.

PS: Several alert readers have pointed out that in my last column about gate agent empowerment, I failed to mention Continental's policy that allows employees to bend the rules and make certain allowances for passengers. In retrospect, I should have noted the carrier's flexibility.

Christopher Elliott's column appears on Thursdays. All e-mailed questions to ChrisCrossings become property of Ticked.com and may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. You may reach Elliott at christopher@elliott.org. Or visit his home page at http://www.elliott.org.