Airlines Crack Down on Passengers’ Personal Items - Travel Light

By Yehudit Garmaise

Passengers who do not “travel light" should beware.

Airline gate agents have been stopping travelers and claiming their carry-on personal items are too large to stow in the overhead compartments or under seats.

Sergio Diaz, a professional speaker flying from LA to NYC, was recently told by an American Airlines employee that he had to pay $50 to check a projector not much bigger than a laptop, the Washington Post reports.

American Airlines defines a personal item as “a purse or a small handbag that must fit under the seat in front of you.”

The bag’s dimensions should not exceed 18-by-14-by-8 inches, which is approximately the size of a bag that could fit a laptop. 

Charging for carry-ons is a hassle for passengers, but for airlines, the practice generates big bucks that are likely making up for revenue that was lost over the pandemic.

In 2021, forcing passengers to check personal items helped American Airlines rake in an extra $1.22 billion, according to a recent study conducted by IdeaWorks and CarTrawler. 

The ultra-low-cost airlines that have built their businesses around charging passengers for basic services like checking bags, refreshments, seat assignments, and even for printing out boarding passes are now focusing on passengers’ personal items. 

While American Airlines exempts from their strict size limits: child safety seats, strollers, diaper bags, and medical mobility devices, Delta Air Lines defines personal items as, “a diaper bag, a small backpack, a camera bag, or a briefcase.”