Flight Attendant Bags in the Overhead Bin

Posted in Media Monitor | 25 comments

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First off, I’m kind of mad at what I’m about to show you, and at the same time, I find it kind of funny. Below is an excerpt from USA Today’s Letter section where readers are commenting about an article written about the recent spike in carry-on luggage in aircraft cabins:

Apply carry-on rules to crew as well as passengers

Paco Martinez-Alvarez – Arlington, Va.

USA TODAY’s article “For air travelers, a ‘fight for the overheads,’ ” failed to mention the many times that flight attendants disregard their airlines’ own rules by bringing on roller bags, large purses and zippered lunch bags (News, Cover story, Thursday).

It is not uncommon to see first-class and front-coach overhead bins filled with bags labeled “crew.” I have yet to see crewmembers check their carry-ons at the plane door so that paying passengers can store their bags. Perhaps airlines need to start monitoring their own staff to help reduce overcrowding.

Dear Mr. I Don’t Know What I’m Talking About Martinez-Alverez,

Hello, sir. Welcome aboard. I’m glad you decided to fly with us today, and furthermore, decided to join us in First class. What do you mean there’s no space for your bag…the overhead bin above your first class seat isn’t reserved, its preferred space. Please feel free to put your bag after of the First Class cabin.

Mr. Martinez-Alverez, though we chose to do be a flight attendant because of the benefits and work schedule, when we are at work – we are also away from home. We’re away from home for up to 5 days at a time domestically, and maybe longer if flying internationally.

When you’re traveling, what do you pack? I for one pack a supply of clothes, shoes, beauty necessities, my laptop, and maybe book. My company requires me to carry a flashlight, a passport, a manual (that’s over 800 pages, so it’s big!), a wine opener and other items which need to remain in the aircraft cabin in the event of an emergency. Oh yeah, also, I pack food. Though my airline supplies meals to the cabin crew, it’s always the same meal — it gets old. Therefore, I travel with 3 bags.

Luckily, for us as cabin crew, the “one plus one” carry on requirement (one carryon + one personal item) doesn’t apply to working crew members. Why? Because we live and work out of our luggage. Your suggestion to have cabin crew check our luggage at the plane door, so YOU can put YOUR bag there wouldn’t work. Here’s why.

All bags “checked” go down to the cargo hold, which means that when you reach your arrival city, they are sent to baggage claim.  If I had to go to baggage claim and wait for my bag after the flight I worked, which happens to be the night before the flight you’re scheduled to take, and it doesn’t show up – how happy are you going to be the next day when your flight is cancelled because a crew member is missing their manual, uniform, or other required items? I’m guessing from the tone of your original letter: not very happy.

I invite you to take a look at the Flight Attendant RV section of my blog and look at what we do travel with. It’s nothing excessive, nothing over the top- just the necessities to get by while at work as well as our required items to make sure you make it to your destination safely.

One other question, if you’re in “first class” or the “front of coach” you should be in one of the first boarding groups to board the aircraft, so, why were the bins full when you boarded? Oh wait..let me guess, you’re the one person we were waiting for– one minute prior to departure, weren’t you?

Sincerely,

Your Flight Attendant


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  • http://hi isaiah

    tooo funny ,man. too funny. i cant believe the selfis people who demand more space for their OVERSIZED carry on becuase they are too cheap to check a bag that weights over 50 lbs.

  • Nathan

    Everyone who has flown think they know all about the airports, airplanes and the employees , Which is really amazing! I would like to start a program where we bring random people to work day and let them be a FA, Pilot (sit in), Ramper, Gate or Tower Coord. That way they can have the true affect on how much goes on behind the scenes to get poeple where they need to be as safe and comfortable as possible. All else fails your vehicle has a trunk put all your heavey bags in their and drive to you destination. That is just one less pain in the ass we have to deal with!

  • Katie

    I get more pissed at people who do the following:
    1. Instead of putting their bags directly over their seats put them in the first bin they see. This makes it difficult for the rest of us boarding to find a place for our own bags, and difficult for us to deplane because our bag is not by us.
    2. If you can’t lift your own bag effing check it. It’s not job to help you with your bags.
    3. Don’t put your suitcase in sideways….are you retarded? Now I have to rearrange your bags to get mine in.

    The flight attendants bags are the least of my worries…

  • shultzyness

    wow. what a bonehead!? i don’t know about all of the airlines but the one i work for doesn’t insure an employee bag that has been checked. therefore, if your bag doesn’t make it to your final destination, intact or at all, you’re just out of luck. what would help is if there was a LOCKING designated bin just for Crew Bags, but alas, no one seems to want to dedicate an area or bin for us. apparently this has provoked hostility in the past in our passengers as well. i for one would LOVE to not have to drag around 5-14 days worth of my life around with me—let alone lift it up and take it down up to 4x a day…AND worry that someone will take it off the plane accidently…or help themselves to the contents (it happens) but until someone comes up with a better plan folks, it is what it is, we just have to deal with it.

    • UpUp&AGay

      I’ve seen crewmembers take those bike lock cords, and secure their bags to the bin to ensure they aren’t removed. I’ve caught one of our crew bags (easy to spot.. it has our logo on it) walking out the door with the wrong person.

      We also HAD a designated crew storage location for luggage in our aft galley. That has since been removed and is now the stowage location for our “on board for-sale” products.

  • Michael Strangeways

    I love this blog and agree with almost everything UUAAG has to say but I have to play devil’s advocate here and point out that ALL Business travelers (and tourists as well) are living out of their bags for three or five or seven or umpteen number of days…

    but, I’m also not petty enough to complain that flight crew gets “special” treatment by getting to bring on an extra bag. If I had to eat airplane/airport/hotel food for several days at a time, I’d want to bring some “real” food with me, too.

    • UpUp&AGay

      You’re right. Business travelers and tourists do live out of their bags as well. And, it can be argued that Business travelers also work out of their luggage, while on board, as well. However, they are paying for a service to be flown from point A to B, and the service never promises a space for a carry on bag.

      Honestly though, I’ve never seen a FA with more than 4 bags max, and that includes a woman’s purse. And yes, we all want real food with us! The Doubletree JFK used to be our layover hotel in New York, thankfully we’ve moved on, but they used to charge $15 for a BLT sandwich. Hotel food and food on the go is ridiculously expensive!

      Thanks for the kudos Michael! I really do appreciate it!

  • http://flythefriendlyskies.blogspot.com Megan

    Totally agree with you. I went from mad to laughing to mad again at that article. Let that guy try to work for 6 days in a row eating out in hotels, fast food and airports… oh and then try and fit down the aisle of the plane. Not so easy! On my aircraft, we don’t even get crew meals…

    Great response, but this guys probably one of those passengers that wouldn’t even care to listen.

  • http://airboy.sodwee.com Airboy

    what a twat. I also hate it when the last “frequent flyer” makes his way into the cabin, finds his seat and then opens the bin only to find it full. He then comes down to the galley brings me all the way up to “his” bin and says “what am I supposed to do ???!”

    PEOPLE : overhead bins are communal space. They are not allocated. Fit your bag where there’s space left for Gods sake. Figure it out yourself, I have pre-departure drinks to prepare otherwise you’ll be moaning later on when we’re late delivering them !

    • UpUp&AGay

      I agree! 100% Amen!

  • AstridAir

    The dick that wrote that letter is one of the main reasons I support NO carry on bags larger than a briefcase EXCEPT for crew.
    I’m tired of your stupid behind holding up the process while you try and cram your bag into a bin with 2 other oversized bags only to start roaming the aisle to find an open spot. That only after you hold up the line at the security checkpoint because you couldn’t get the bag off the belt without using 2 hands while trying to get your laptop back in the case.

    • UpUp&AGay

      Here here!

  • Carlitos

    I’ve been reading your blog off and on and while I can agree with many things you have written, I think you’re way off on this particular issue.

    If I recall correctly, per federal law, the closet (which many FAs appropriate for their personal bags and items) has to be made available for passengers with disabilities, and that if crew bags have to be gate checked to accomodate such a request if there is no other room.

    You’ve mislead readers about crew bags that are gate checked and what happens to them upon arrival at destination. I’ve seen plenty of gate checked crew bags in my career. Every single one of them has been brought up to the jetway by the ramp crew or the flight crew has walked down to the ramp to retrieve them.

    Yes you are gone from your home and living out of your bags for 3 – 5 days while you’re doing your job. But during the course of your job duties during flight, you have no reason to need access to your non-uniform clothes, or your laptop, ipod, personal items that are not required per FARs or company policy. And I’m sure with the FAA suspending the license of the two NWA pilots for using their personal laptops, you will soon see all the majors start to enforce the no personal laptop use while do your job, whether on the flight deck or in the cabin. Plain and simple, you are being paid from the time that door closes till it opens at your destination to perform your job duties, not to be playing with your personal items.

    And those paying passengers, the ones trying to cram their bags in the overhead when its completely full. There is one tiny difference between them and everyone else that works at the airline. They PAY to be there. Whether its a full fare J class ticket, or the cheapest most restrictive ticket in the back. They provide all our salaries. Corporate, flight crews, gate agents, ramp agents. Put yourself in their place. If you paid 5,000 for a first class ticket you would expect and demand to board at anytime you wanted too in the boarding process and you would be just as demanding about wanting access to an overhead bin that isn’t crammed full of an employees belonging that won’t be needed to fulfill their job function.

    And finally, go into your job, ask your supervisor or send a letter to the VP of Inflight Services and ask them who has priority access to those bins: the passenger or the employee.

    • UpUp&AGay

      On the closets: Our aircraft don’t have them, the stowage location I was speaking of was under the last row of seats in the back of the aircraft. We did that as a courtesy to keep the bins empty.

      Personally, I’ve never used my laptop inflight, however, it is in the same bag that my required work items are in, therefore, I cannot check the bag. I could always travel with yet ANOTHER bag keeping work items separate from personal items though.

      Some airlines will bring crew bags up to the jetbridge, other airlines, will not.

      Overhead bins are NOT reserved space. They ever were, and they never will be. The term is “preferred,” when it’s full.. it’s full! It’s simply to hard to regulate when you’re focused on 20 things during boarding, the OHs are the least of my worries.

      We should take a clue from the movie “Soul Plane” and charge to use them (“insert quarter, turn key, and the bin opens”). Then, should you want to bring a carry on, you pay for the space for it.

      Lastly, “who has priority access to those bins: the passenger or the employee” the answer is simple. The space for my bag with my required items for the flights comes before the pax bags. Unfortunately, My manual is in one of my bags and my passport, flashflight, etc is in the other. Therefore, both my bags go in the cabin, first.

      • http://thedhidailyblogger.blogspot.com Deanna

        Preached!

  • Carlitos

    Your manual and flashlight can fit in your tote. Your passport should be on your person. Everything else is not needed during flight and can go in the belly. Your laptop is definitely not require for anythig and an argument can be made that employess should leave it at home. Never claimed overhead bins were reserved space. I did say that if a paying passenger were to complain to the company about being forced to check a carry-on due to a flight attendants personal effects taking up room in the bins, that your company would side with the pax and tell you to gate check your stuff.

  • UpUp&AGay

    Actually, the company wouldn’t tell me to gate check my items. If the bins are full, they’re full. Case closed. The rest of the pax bags can be gate checked.

    My passport cannot be on my person while I’m flying, where would I put it? What if I lost it? My tote has my , opener, flashlight, and passport in it. It is NOT big enough for my manual, which is in my other bag.

    The company cannot tell me what I can and can’t travel with while working, especially if *I* put it in *my* luggage.

    When pax start to PAY for overhead bin space, and it’s not available, then they can complain. Until then, it’s still first come first served and not reserved.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-3584-Airline-Industry-Examiner Airline Examiner

    Thanks UUAG for bringing this issue to light – it’s definitely a contentious one. Let me point out a few things as well:

    1. On several (domestic) airlines, cabin crew carry food containers because crew meals have been eliminated (also not to mention the $15 club sandwich, but it’s also my experience most layover hotels discount food for airline employees, was that price post-discount?), and there is often not time to grab an overpriced airport meal in between flights, especially during a delay.

    2. While passengers only have to worry about bin space for one or two flights, crew members may have to worry about it for up to five, depending on routing and duration. Advantage: Crew.

    3. Airlines are faced with a dilemma. Provide adequate “non public” closet space for cabin and flight crew to stow their luggage, or put in more passenger seats. Airlines have opted for the latter, leaving crew to answer the uncomfortable inquiries about their bags in the overhead bins. Should the required closts be installed, it would reduce revenue capacity per aircraft, and could increase fares.

    4. Many airline union contracts tie legal rest to amount of time spent at place of lodging in addition to amount of time between block hours. Flight attendants who would have to wait to claim checked luggage could create inefficiencies in scheduling, raising costs, and subsequently, fares. I understand many international flight attendants check bags on a regular basis, but those layovers can often be several days, rather than just a few hours.

    5. The “I paid money, therefore I’m entitled” argument is so typically American. It’s also false. It’s the same excuse used by drunks (I can drink as much as I want in First Class, I paid for it). US domestic flight attendants are often caught in between the needs of the entitled passengers who paid oftentimes loss-making fares, and the needs of the airlines who almost seem to blame the employees need for things like overhead bin space and crew meals and decent hotels when the airline isn’t profitable.

    6. United dealt with this onboard Ted aircraft, where closets were removed and the inflight entertainment system took up the first few overhead bins, which are by the way, installed for passenger convenience. When it boils down to it, passengers are entitlted in most carriers’ contract of carriage to transportation from point A to B, with a defined amount of luggage. The COC does not define where the passenger is entitlted to stow their luggage, and it does not guarantee availability of space in the aircraft cabin. Fact is, aside from the seat you sit in, which you have paid for transportation in, the airline retains ownership of the rest of the aircraft, including overhead bins, and if they want to transport crew bags or camelias or crepe paper, it’s their right to do so.

  • http://travelzine.blogspot.com Aline Lima

    If I could just scan the page of my manual where it says
    that my cabin bag MUST be stowed in the overhead bins as
    the pax bags, then this guy would shut up. What about a
    crew that had her bag sent to MEL instead of SYD?
    PPL think that just because we’re crew that we’re not
    susceptible to have our checked luggage lost or broken…

  • http://flythefriendlyskies.blogspot.com Megan

    oh man, I wish I had gotten in the convo with Carlitos! Obviously you are not a flight attendant… and from the sound of it not a frequent flier either. If you were, you would know how many planes out there don’t have closet space for crew bags… and you might know that some airlines require flight attendants to have computers.

    Thanks for trying to tell us all how much and what to pack in our bags. Next time, I will do the same to you when you board my flight.

    This really did bring up a good topic. As usual, love the post!

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  • http://traytables-travels.blogspot.com Traytable

    Have lost count of the times I open the ‘Crew Use Only’ locker to find some passenger has stuffed their tote bag on top of mine… crammed in so hard that I can’t get to my in-flight items. The passenger then yells at me for touching their bag. I point to the placard and they say ‘there was nowhere else to stow it’. Locker two rows ahead is empty. people just think they should have their bags immediately above their heads!

    If it’s THAT important, do what I do when travelling as a passenger- PUT IT AT YOUR FEET!

    Another one we get a lot is that people cram their bags into equipment lockers which are clearly labelled ‘Emergency Equipment Only’ and then get mad when we have to move it. Um, last I checked your 20-ton bag is NOT emergency equipment. For example, one flight we had to get an oxygen bottle only to find while we were all busy some silly person had stuffed their backpack in, meaning it took extra time to get the medical equipment out.

    Passengers, if the sign says NOT FOR PASSENGER USE, this does mean you!!!!

    Carlitos, many airlines do not permit crew to check their luggage. Also, when we are doing 5 sectors in a day, with 40min turnarounds (including boarding 20min prior to departure) there is no time for luggage to be transferred.

    You’d no doubt be the first to dog on the crew for being late to the next aircraft. You can’t have it both ways. Either they’re on time with their luggage in the cabin, or late because they’ve checked it. Pick.

  • Sarah Joe

    I find this thread, really interesting. I totally agree. I normally pack 3 bags, which consist of my roller bag, my lunch bag and my purse. I try to stow my bags out of the way, whether it be under the seat in front of the bulkhead where passengers can’t place their bags or we try to space our bags up in the over head bins. I for once had to change my shirt in flight from a spill. If I had not had my roller bag inside the plane, I would’ve had to wear wet clothes.

    Also, many times our crew bags get sent somewhere else by mistake. Which would be an absolute nightmare.
    Yes, I do understand that people pay a lot for flying, and it does pay our salaries, especially those in first class. But why should we be barred from bringing our own bags onto the plane???

    • Bobby

      Sarah, I agree! I’ve had to change my uniform pieces inflight after a spill — and not having my bags there would have been a mess!

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  • http://www.thedetaildevils.com.au/ Peter

    Well yes it only makes sense that shift workers would experience a higher rate of weight gain, the later you eat, the less your body burns because your system is on a lower drive so to speak.