Carry-ons Becoming Suitcases
 

I noticed after my last trip that passengers are carrying more and more on to the planes. It seemed to take forever to get everyone settled and ready for take-off. I think that since the airlines started charging for baggage people are trying to go "all carry-on" and almost trying to pass off suitcases as carry-ons.

As long as the bag, case, box, etc. fits in the allowable dimensions, it can be carry-on. That more people may be using cases that hit the maximum dimensions than before to avoid having to check any baggage, and paying extra fees, is not surprising.

I'm sure your observations are correct. That more people are trying to go "carry on" only with the new fees for luggage.

I think you're right but it's annoying. It takes longer to get out of the plane and if you have a tight connection, you're sunk.

Actually, fee or no fee, I like to book for a longer connection time and check my bag. If I have a wait between planes, I want to be free to get in a nice long, fast walk through the airport before I'm stuck in the box for another 10 hours.

I agree that many people are taking more with them on the plane than before, due to the checked luggage fee.

However, that may or may not solely explain why it's taking longer to load a plane. In my own experience, flights used to be emptier in the past. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, I almost always had an empty seat next to me, or even had an entire empty row.

However, in the last several years when airlines started to lose lots of money, they decreased the # of flights and therefore each flight is more full. I can't even remember the last time I wasn't on a FULL flight, esp domestic flights. So, you're talking about loading 200 people onto a plane now, vs 100 people in the past. Of course that takes longer these days.