I woke up this morning to a story entitled, “United passenger records heated exchange with ‘rude’ airline staff over carry-on bag” topping my airline travel news feed.
It is a incident that occurred in the check-in lobby of Chicago O’Hare. Natalia Rutkowski and her mother Anna were traveling on Basic Economy tickets, which permits them only one “personal” item as carry-on baggage.
To prevent confrontation at the gate, United has positioned agents in the check-in hall to check carry-on baggage size. A United agent named Sunday stopped the two, claiming that Anna’s purse was too big to be considered a carry-on item.
Watch the video below.
It seems to me this is a close-call. Absolutely, the bag fits in the sizer when squeezed in, but good luck sticking that bag under an economy class seat onboard, especially an aisle seat that barely has enough legroom for two legs.
United offers no clarification on whether the personal item must be easily dropped inside the sizer or can be gently squeezed in. In any case, the bag fit and was therefore properly admitted onboard. But it actually appears bigger than the 9″ x 10″ x 17″ limit.
I just don’t see the rudeness here. The United agent…to put it nicely…doesn’t appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer…but I don’t sense hostility or rudeness. Do you? He’s not the one who raises his voice…
Natalia said, “There was a lot of fuss. I was agitated and there were a lot of people starting to stare.”
Yes, because you were filming it…
In a statement on the incident, United promised to investigate.
The customer was allowed to carry on her bag. We have reached out to this customer directly and are reviewing this incident with our team to better understand what happened.
CONCLUSION
The United agent was wrong. There is no defending his stubbornness when the bag fit. But based on the video it seems he was far less rude than the headline suggests. And I don’t blame the agents for being skeptical that a large carpet bag would fit in the personal item sizer.
It was jutting out over the top of the sizer…until she squeezed it down (and it was still larger than the sizer). Does that mean that it fit? I’m not so sure. In any case, filming people at their jobs just escalates the situation. I think it would have been easier to simply ask for a manager and have a final ruling on what is clearly a judgement call. The traveler was the one to raise her voice and to film the interaction. I’d be really annoyed dealing with people like this for a living.
People who take videos of stuff like this are the worst.
carry on bag, or personal item?
They are both technically carry-on bags.
When a 2nd United employee immediately states the bag fits I’m satisfied as to who is in the wrong. If Sunday hadn’t denied it fit, the situation would never have escalated. He instead chose to dig in. Of course the woman was frustrated…he was trying to force her to check a purse. If airlines don’t want confrontation over bags, don’t make draconian carry on rules and enforce them inconsistently.
a measuring device for both it appears
I love how Natalia has a Louis Vuitton Monogram handbag as her personal item yet travels Basic. Typical Chicago Poles.
I agree with @Jimmy that anyone who takes a video of this is a not a good person. She got what she wanted, so why did she have to post this?
So true Andy. It’s sort of typical nowadays to post videos of people doing their job. Maybe Natalia could film her surgeon next time she undergoes surgery ?
If they had let her on and it didn’t fit anywhere under the seat and she had to gate check it, but then needed 5 minutes had to take out all her valuables, how many people complaining about the agent’s behavior would instead be complaining about the delay and possible missed connections because of it, and would be lambasting lazy gate agents for letting her on with her oversized personal item???
Also, not sure if this is basic economy or an RJ situation. If it was an RJ, no way is that bag going under the seat or in the overhead.
You KNOW if it didn’t fit she’d refuse to gate check in. In fact, I can all but guarantee that they didn’t put these bags under the seat. People like this ALWAYS put their stuff up in the overhead compartment regardless of the fact they didn’t pay for that space, complicating things for those of us who actually bought a full fare ticket.
Maybe those sizers need lids. If the bag fits inside the box with the lid closed and the lid making contact with the side, then you’re good. (Also, you cannot be exerting continuous pressure on the lid).
Right, it was not clear to me from the video whether it really extended above the top of the front of the sizer, which is supposed to be the top limit. But it looked close enough.
But I guess when UA started selling basic economy, it should have known it was going to get more of this kind of thing.
Good luck trying this on European lowcosters. Those guys will never let you in if the carry-on isn’t “easy in – easy out”.
This behavior is so gross. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar… unless you film someone at work while you’re berating them. If you don’t like flying on an airline that checks carryon sizes and offers “ala carte” fares, don’t fly them. Don’t try to bend the rules and then get mad when someone is following them.
What’s that? You don’t want to pay Jet Blue or Virgin Air prices? Cool. Now you know why airlines offer ala carte services; because you’re too cheap to pay a full fare.