[Courtervideo]

With most airlines charging rapidly increasing fees for luggage, the flying public has responded by carrying the maximum amount of baggage on-board. After a recent trip with 6 flights in 6 days, we saw the results of these policies: if you are not among the first half of passengers on board, your carry-on luggage will likely not find space in the overhead compartments. Never in 40 years of travel have we seen such frantic and desperate attempts by the passengers to board early and get access to the limited space. I spoke to one flight attendant who said she used to love her job, but with the new baggage policies, "hated the boarding process" and would soon quit. With carry-ons becoming a major hassle and passengers giving their bags to attendants who search up and down the isle to find spaces into which to jam luggage, both the boarding and exiting processes have become far less efficient causing delays and missed connections. There is no joy in airline travel anymore.