Supermarkets have them, so why not airports?

(From my story on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin)

Air travelers trying to avoid checked luggage fees by taking along extra – or extra large – carry-on bags often clog up the works at security checkpoints.

But passengers flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport now have incentive to pack light and check those bags.

As of Tuesday, September 13, 2001, travelers with just one carry-on item are able to breeze through the airport’s new Express Security Lane, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

“Traffic has been increasing at our airport, and the checkpoint lines have been getting longer. This could pull up to 25 percent of the people out of the longer line and improve everyone’s experience,” said Bradley Penrod, executive director/CEO for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

The express line received approval from the Transportation Security Administration and will be staffed by security officers who will send passengers with both a carry-on bag and another item, such as a computer bag or purse, to one of the other, non-express, checkpoint lines. Jackets will be allowed, but not carry-ons larger than 22″ by 14″ by 9″.

“The program at Pittsburgh International Airport is one example of TSA partnering with airports to improve the passenger experience, while providing world-class security,” said TSA spokesperson Greg Soule.

Frequent flier and registered traveler programs already promise some travelers a quicker path to the secure side of many of the nation’s more than 450 commercial airports, but Pittsburgh airport officials believe they’ve come up with a novel, universally accessible idea.

“Even TSA couldn’t confirm we were the first airport to do this,” said Penrod. “But we expect if it works here, other airports will start offering express lanes as well.”

Categories: Baggage, Carry-ons, Security
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On msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin blog, I wrote about the new gate-check rule American Airlines is now enforcing for strollers.

Beginning June 1, 2011, American Airlines is no longer gate-checking certain strollers.

If you show up with a collapsible or umbrella-style stroller under 20 pounds, you’ll still be able to gate-check your stroller. But under the new policy, large, jogging and non-collapsible strollers will have to be checked at the ticket counter.

The good news is that checked strollers will travel fee-free.

“It is simply a matter of many strollers these days being very large and not being collapsible and easily handled at the gate and on the jet bridge,” said an American Airlines’ spokesperson.

United also requires passengers to check big strollers at the ticket counter, but Alaska, Delta, Southwest and several other airlines allow strollers of any kind to be checked at the gate. “We know that traveling with little ones can be a challenge,” said Southwest spokesperson Laurel Moffat. “We want to make that travel experience as easy as possible.”

Categories: Air Travel, Carry-ons, family travel
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Besides the story about the Charlotte-bound US Airways plane that had to return to the gate in Atlanta because maggots started dropping from an overhead bin (watch video at your own risk…)

…the best aviation-related story making the rounds today was about yet another FAA-approved flying car. The Christian Science Monitor’s story about the Terrafugia Transition includes some very cool photos and a video describing the prototype of a two-seater car that can be transformed into an airplane – and purchased for $194,000.

It does seem promising but, The Jetsons aside, it’s not new. Back in 1949, Vancouver, Washington resident Moulton Taylor created a car that did the same thing.

The final version of that car, the Aerocar III, which was actually the sixth version of the car, is on display at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

Taylor wasn’t the first to make a flying car. The Smithsonian Institution displays the Waterman Aerobile, which first flew in 1937.

And, from 1950, the Fulton Airphibian

Both the Airphibian and the Aerobile are on display in the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport.

Categories: Air Travel, Airplanes, aviation, Aviation history, Baggage, Carry-ons, Design, Exhibits, Fun Stuff
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We all knew this was coming – someday – right?

Spirit Airlines announced that, come August 1^st, you’ll need to pay a fee (up to $45 if you wait until the last minute) to stow a bag, a box, or that container holding our uncle’s cremains in the overhead bin.

The alternatives?  Check your bags (there’s a fee for that as well) or tote less.  Or, as many of the 45,000 people who voted so far in the msnbc.com on-line survey vow to do, fly a different airline.  “Enough is enough,” wrote one voter. “They must think we’re idiots,” said another.

For their part, Spirit Airlines claims that by unbundling this fee, passengers might save money.

Given the fact that Spirit adds fees for just about everything else, the potential to save money by traveling with no luggage is highly disputed.  But the airline also suggests that charging for carry-ons will reduce boarding hassles.  Spirit Airlines COO Ken McKenzie claims the new charge “will reduce the number of carry-on bags, which will improve in-flight safety and efficiency by speeding up the boarding and deplaning process, all of which ultimately improve the overall customer experience.”

We’ll see about that.  And, of course, we probably only have to wait until about, oh, August 2^nd, to find out if other airlines will follow Spirit’s lead.  It’s a good bet.  We were all shocked when airlines started charging for checked bags and snacks but now, as my mother used to say about things far worse than that, it’s all just part of the game.

To add your vote to the msnbc.com carry-on bag survey, to read my column on the topic, and to see all sorts of videos and other reporting on this topic, see Unbundled baggage fees reach the overhead bin.

Categories: Air Travel, Baggage, Carry-ons, Fees
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According to recently released statistics from the Department of Transportation (DOT),  airlines appear to be getting better at keeping track of checked bags.  Plenty of bags still go missing. And some bags do get stolen.  But according to the Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), in 2009 the mishandled bag rate was 3.91 per 1,000 passengers, down from 2008′s 5.26 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers; and the lowest rate of lost bags in quite some time.

The numbers are going in the right direction, but it may be because fewer people are traveling and many travelers are doing whatever they can not to pay a checked bag fee.

But just about everyone will get a big kick out of this YouTube video of Rhod Gilbert talking about his luggage problems.

And while Mr. Gilbert may have had bad luck at the airport, on Sunday, February 21st, Denver resident John Johnson had some very good luck at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Johnson, his wife, and his bowling team went to Reno for the US Bowling Congress Open Championship and, after putting $20 in a Megabucks machine at the airport, Johnson won $10.4 million.

Categories: Baggage, Carry-ons, Entertainment, Gambling
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