July 30--The International Air Transport Association learned a hard lesson recently: Don't mess with our carry-on luggage.
The global trade association of the world's airlines announced an initiative June 9 called Cabin OK that would "optimize the accommodation of carry-on bags." The plan called for airlines to adopt size guidelines for carry-on luggage -- smaller than what most airlines already impose -- which IATA said would make the best use of cabin storage space.
In other words, by shrinking the size of carry-on bags, overhead bins would never be so full that the last few people to board a plane would need to check their luggage at the gate.
IATA said luggage manufacturers would soon begin making bags featuring the Cabin OK logo and sales would begin before the end of the year. A number of major airlines would be taking part in the initiative, IATA said.
The plan would "bring common sense and order to the problem of differing sizes for carry-on bags," Tom Windmuller, IATA's senior vice president for airport, passenger, cargo and security, said in a news release. "We know the current situation can be frustrating for passengers. This work will help to iron out inconsistencies and lead to an improved passenger experience."
You know what else is frustrating? Being told to buy more luggage by IATA. And it's therefore not hard to understand why the backlash was almost instantaneous. The response led IATA to issue a clarification three days later because "key elements of its Cabin OK initiative ... have been misunderstood in some reporting."
This time, IATA said that a Cabin OK bag wasn't mandated for stepping onto a flight -- a key element IATA had neglected to make clear in its initial announcement. It said that the Cabin OK initiative was not a maximum size limit and that such limits would continue to be set by the airlines.
Cabin OK "does not require passengers to buy new baggage," IATA said. But IATA also explained that if every passenger used a Cabin OK bag, all of those on a flight of 120 seats or more would be able to get their bags on board, even on full flights.
"For passengers traveling with bags that don't have the Cabin OK logo, there's no need to worry," IATA said. "If it was accepted for travel before, it will be acceptable for travel now -- but with the same uncertainty that if the flight is full it may eventually have to travel in the hold."
Saying that in the first place might have saved the initiative. But it was apparently too late. Such antagonism had built against the program -- from the USA Today editorial page to the Global Business Travel Association to the Airlines for America trade group -- that, less than a week later, IATA admitted defeat.
On June 17, IATA said it was "pausing" rollout of the Cabin OK initiative and "beginning a comprehensive reassessment in light of concerns expressed, primarily in North America."
I reached out to IATA to ask if there was surprise about the depth of the reaction. And more important, would it be reintroducing the initiative? IATA wouldn't say. A spokesman for the organization declined to answer any questions about Cabin OK.
The guess here, however, is that we've seen the last of it for a while. For one, what works in other parts of the world doesn't always work so well in America. We like things big, and we prize individualism. Completely reinventing the carry-on experience on the fly is inevitably going to generate blowback.
Plus, as I've written before, American airlines are investing in expanded overhead bins to accommodate bags of varying shape and size. With consumers already feeling relatively hostile to the flying experience, airlines probably see little reason to add another target for their customers' ire.
jbnoel@tribune.com
