SUE QUIGLEY
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
As a former flight attendant, I have more than a few horror stories of what passengers (pax) think they can bring with them into the cabin. One pax flying from Hong Kong to Vietnam had a large garment bag that appeared to have a life of its own. On hanging it up in a front closet, the garment bag split open to reveal several pangolins trying to get comfortable. One of the most trafficked mammals in Asia and Africa, pangolins are big money. Their meat is a delicacy and their scales are used in traditional medicine and folk remedies.
Then there’s Durian. A durian fruit doesn’t take up much space in the cabin but the smell is like rotting sewage. Imagine that permeating throughout the cabin on a 14-hour flight! In many Southeast Asian countries, carrying durians on public transportation is against the law. Five-star hotels actually post an employee in the front lobby assigned specifically to sniff out guests who try to sneak the fruit inside. Airlines include it on their list of prohibited items simply because of its smell. Yet, despite that, it’s considered a delicacy and I love it. It’s creamy, delicate and very delicious.
More amusing on flights were the ducks and chickens on those internal Caribbean and South American flights with the birds clucking and flapping feathers all over the cabin. During the Hajj, some pilgrims would bring portable butane stoves with them thinking they could cook a meal in the aisle.
But all of that was in the good old days of flying, before hijackings, bomb threats and, worst of all, the introduction of carry-on baggage rules! Now airline agents are having to deal with a new burgeoning class of pax who make boarding flights unpleasant for everyone.
Okay! I get it! You’re taking a flight to wherever and you don’t want to check your bag. It’s ultra-convenient having your baggage with you at all times and taking it into the airplane cabin with you makes total sense. You get off the plane, along with your baggage, and head straight through the airport to get to your final destination. None of that hanging around airport carousels for you!
Checking baggage costs time and money not just for the airlines but for pax having to pay those extra checked baggage fees! So, flying with only cabin baggage makes sense. I mean …we all do what we can to make travel costs that bit cheaper.
However, there are problems about traveling only with hand baggage and it comes down to the attitude of the flying public. Just as passengers (pax) are becoming downright pigheaded about their cabin baggage, so airlines will work at being more diligent about baggage size.
Carry-on baggage, as is the middle seat and the armrest debate, has become everything that’s ghastly about flying today. It’s nurtured a whole new breed of unpleasant and selfish people.
These are the people who think only of themselves and trying to dodge the rules. Like that pax dragging a giant 3-tier hiking pack up the aisle. How the heck did he manage to get that past the gate agents, I ask myself? But actually, I do kind of understand.
Departure gate agents have a rough time these days, with airlines trying to get by with fewer staff. These agents are responsible for the departure gate, arranging for wheelchairs, assisting unaccompanied minors, dealing with endless pax questions, the Jetway and more, and all in a small amount of time, less than an hour usually, before the scheduled flight departure.
I feel quite guilty writing about this because my pet peeve is about the inevitable departure door “boarding scrum.” You know them. They try to look important as if they’re first-class pax and are totally oblivious to anyone else. They crowd at the boarding door, blocking the way through for pax whose zone has already been called. Makes my blood boil.
Extra large carry-ons just make the whole boarding procedure a pain in the proverbial and gate agents don’t have the time to require each pax to fit their bag in the luggage size-checker before they’re allowed to board the plane. Mostly, I see those “right-size” checkers used as litter bins.
I am disgusted with people who flout common courtesy when flying nowadays. You know who you are. Stop trying to have one over on the airlines and your fellow pax. You’re not as clever as you think. In fact, you’re stupid. You are the person spoiling it for the rest of us. Get a grip and check your oversized bag!
Sue Quigley writes regularly for The Hernando Sun. She can be contacted at [email protected] or 727.247.6308.
