Originally Posted by
FlyJSH
Don't want to start the "Fees are good/bad" debate.
All I am asking is since fees started at your company, have people been using more carry-ons? If so, has this affected weight and balance calculations ( are the planes "lighter" on paper for example)?
I work for a carrier who before a merger did not charge or bags. After the merger, the decision was made to charge for bags. And as such, the number of carry-ons increased.
From a weight and balance perspective, I don't think anything has changed. The companies use "wags" anyways to determine weight and balance. I think these wags are set for the worst case scenarios and as such, the jets seem to be well within weight and balance tolerances.
If anything, the charging for checked bags has meant delays in boarding. On full flight, the gate agents, ground crews, and FAs are busy gate checking bags that were too large or had no space left in the overhead bins. This had led to late departures not to mention some disgruntled passengers.