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Home » American Airlines » New Carry-On Restrictions At American Airlines Unlikely To Be Enforced
American Airlines

New Carry-On Restrictions At American Airlines Unlikely To Be Enforced

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 26, 2021November 14, 2023 7 Comments

luggage in a shelf on an airplane

American Airlines has told its gate agents to crack down on oversized carry-ons. In practice, however, I expect very little will change in terms of carry-on enforcement.

New Policy: American Airlines Will Charge For Gate Checking Oversized Carry-On Bags

Effective immediately, American Airlines will charge passengers who attempt to evade carry-on size restrictions and are “busted” at the gate. AA has carry-on sizers in most gate areas and the new policy tells gate agents to charge to check in a larger carry-on item if it does not fit in the sizer.

View from the Wing reports two exceptions:

  • Passengers entitled to free checked baggage (AAdvantage elites and co-branded credit card holders)
  • When charging for these bags may lead to a departure delay

That last exception is huge. In theory every traveler should know (after so many years and such a uniform policy across airlines) what the maximum size of a carry-on item is. American Airlines says this new policy “will create a consistent customer experience for those who bring non-compliant bags to the gate.”

But let’s face it: the sort of travelers who willfully defy carry-on restrictions are the sort of travelers who will argue and perhaps even throw a fit if gate agents attempt to charge them to check their large “hand” baggage.

And from all that I’ve seen and observed over the years, given this extra leeway gate agents are not going to even bother.

CONCLUSION

American Airlines rightly identifies the problem of oversized carry-on items. These slow down boarding, take space away from other passengers, and cost AA revenue. But practically, I simply do not see gate agents willing to escalate arguments over miserly passengers. The result: you’ll still want to board as early as possible to guarantee overhead bin space.

image: American Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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7 Comments

  1. Santastico Reply
    April 26, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Time for changes. You buy a ticket and you should get a free checked bag with that. With airlines charging for checked bags, passengers decided to bring all their belongings with them inside the plane. Not only the size of those bags but the weight of those bags makes it unsafe. I have seen many times passengers cannot lift their bags into the overhead bins by themselves. Also, it slows down the process of boarding and deplaning the plane since there is just way too much to be carried in and out by passengers.

  2. ViaPanAm Reply
    April 26, 2021 at 11:24 am

    Not to mention that my guess is most violators don’t have early boarding status, so they are likely among the last groups to board, when charging will delay the flight and therefore not charging them is a valid exemption for the gate agent.

  3. TWA john Reply
    April 26, 2021 at 12:15 pm

    The High Command in Berlin (DFW), loads huge sanctions on gate agents who cannot get the door closed 10 minutes before departure. Mussolini did in fact get the trains to run on time (under penalty of death). The baggage drills at certain departure stations are predictable and this is a non problem at most.

    Passengers carry on because airports have become so non user friendly, the extra step of claiming luggage can add an hour on to your trip at some places. AA is at the bottom of baggage reliability.

    The customer pays the bills. DUH. Go ahead and piss off the client and see the bottom line go off the cliff.

  4. Marguriete Sherman Reply
    April 26, 2021 at 12:41 pm

    So funny about Mussolini doing that!! Airline employees sure are under a lot of pressure to get the flights out on time so all connections can be made. From a 40 year veteran flight attendant Continental/United Airlines

  5. Jerry Reply
    April 26, 2021 at 2:13 pm

    I said this at OMAAT, but I think the issue lies with the sizers. My bag comfortably fits correctly in every overhead in AA’s fleet that allows full size carry-ons, including the E75. Depending on the judgement of the GA, it may or may not fit in the sizer. I can’t see any justification for me not being able to bring my bag onboard other than an arbitrary “it’s the rule!”

    I don’t argue with GAs because I know I’ll never win, but they are some of the rudest and most aggressive people that I interact with on a regular basis. Unless AA is willing to be a bit more reasonable with their “sizer,” there are going to be a lot of fights at the gate.

  6. Michael Reply
    April 26, 2021 at 7:51 pm

    Sorry, but the overhead bins were meant for fragile items and your personal bags, purses, etc, and not for your luggage. Every ticket should allow one checked bag (additional bags should pay a fee), and gate agents should stop anyone trying to carry-on a piece of luggage (e.g., any bag or piece of luggage that cannot fit under the small space under the seat in front of you) and check it at the gate. There should be no exceptions. Carry-on luggage drastically slows down the boarding process, is an enormous danger due to lack of control of the weight of each piece, and causes constant problems with people hogging the overhead space.

    This is a mess created by the airlines with the idea that it is a big revenue generator. But have they ever looked at the hidden costs associated with the extra time it takes to load a plane due to the excess carry-on luggage? One of the biggest costs (of which there are many) of running an airline is the gate cost (how much an airline has to pay an airport to use one of it’s gates). Each gate is leased, and is outrageously expensive. So the slower you load a plane, the less times each day you can use the gate, which is therefore more expensive.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      April 27, 2021 at 3:13 am

      @Michael – Your comment “Sorry, but the overhead bins were meant for fragile items and your personal bags, purses, etc, and not for your luggage” is factually incorrect. Here is a story from six years ago whereby Boeing was announcing they fit 50% more carry-on rollaboard bags, and an image of how it can be maximized – they even branded it “space bins.” Airbus did the same around the same time.

      https://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2015/10/09/will-boeings-new-space-bins-help-ease-the-airline-carry-on-crunch/73577640/

      Here’s an article mentioning American’s touted retrofit “Oasis” in which the extra bin space was intended to provide storage for every passenger.
      https://viewfromthewing.com/american-is-now-retrofitting-737s-again-to-fix-poorly-thought-out-first-class-cabin/

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