It's Not the Size of Your Carry-On, It's What In It!

The FAA is encouraging those of us traveling this holiday week to make their job easier and your experience more pleasant by leaving all unnecessary baggage behind and travelling with the bare essentials. How can this best be achieved according to them? Simple. Leave your carry-on bags at home. Now I agree that most of the delays at security checks are due to people not being all that familiar with the rules and regulations regarding what can and cannot be carried.

My biggest pet peeve are the people who carry jumbo 8-gallon sodas through the security line only to act surprised when they're asked to get rid of it. This despite the fact that there are signs all over the airport and announcements and visual aids informing passengers that liquids are not allowed through the security gate. I guess some of these guys figure that they can possibily become the one exception to the rule. Meanwhile the rest of us are standing in the back with our belts, shoes and jackets in hand waiting for you while you argue about having spent $15 on a soda you now have to toss out.

Well, the hope on the part of the FAA is that by having passengers come through security with nothing more than what they have in hand they should be through security that much faster and with little or no problem. In theory this seems like a fine suggestion but unfortunately the realities of air travel these days tend to run counter to the arguement that air travel is anything but speedy. I agree that some passengers go a bit overboard with what they term carry-on. I once saw a 300 pound man get on an aircraft with a duffle bag that was nearly as large as him and then sat mesmerized as he proceeded to push, shove and force it into the overhead compartment. Things like that should definitely be banished from flights since they are unnecessary and cause greater delays.

But what about in instances where we are making a normal trip; if such a concept even exists anymore? I mean most flights are only a couple of hours but they aren't the same as they used to be are they? Previously for a cross-country flight you would get some food that came in something larger than a pack of dental floss. You actually got real food served on real trays with real silverware; no sporks in sight. Nor did you have to pay $5 for the food; it was included in the ticket price. What's so good about that and what does it have to do with carry-on bags? Simple. People need their carry-on bags to provide sustinance and distraction for flights that rarely arrive or depart on time. If we put all our possessions in the proverbial 'egg basket' and then check it in, what happens when we land in Washington but our bags are up in Detroit? Well, I suppose we can look at the bright side and be happy that we cleared security in record time.

I think the rules that the FAA and TSA and DHS (the alphabet soup in charge of our collective security) have in place are great and all but there are times when they just don't make sense. All these problems in the airline industry today are all related. Rising costs to airlines means cuts in their staff which lead to cuts in service which leads to longer lines which means missed flights which means frayed nerves which means problems with security which means delays which means sitting and starving on a plane waiting to go home which means it's time for a new regulation meant to alleviate problems but only serving to make them worse. If you're going to be travelling this holiday, please, for your sake and the sake of your fellow passengers, pack smartly and don't try to play innocent in pretending a full-size suitcase will fit in the overhead bin. Pack smartly and get their early. Keep food on hand and entertainment by way of books or music close and above all.... relax. Getting there is rarely half the fun anymore.