Why do we gate check bags still
 

The airlines are so idiotic. 72 people on a CRJ700 waiting for a slow ground crew to schlep them up a jet bridge. Stop charging for checked bags and charge for gate checked. This is getting absurd.

That is how the FAA/company determine weight and balance for the CRJ's.

Also, there is not enough overhead space for 72 bags. In fact, there is only room for about 26 bags in the overhead. What would the 46 passengers do with their bags?

I'm not sure about other carriers, but at United they never changed the 24 minute turn time if you were delayed when they instituted the check bag fees. Carry ons went through the roof and the turn time never changed. You get rid of half or more of the airports that used to have mainline working the ramp and what you get is an almost impossible turn time because of the need to load and unload all of the carry on bags by slow outsourced rampers. But what does mainline care? Every late departure (usually 1-3 minutes) adds up to them not having to pay regional carriers more because of better performance.

Check them all the way through like they do on mainline flights when they have to check bags at the gate.

Checked bags free. Carry ons other than personal item $$$$$

What will you do, have the gate agent charge them a fee at the gate? Good luck getting out on time!

Look at Spirit and Frontier.... they charge for both but they also both charge a lot more for a carry on than a checked bag. They want the bags checked ahead of time to speed up turn times.... The best at it thought is and always has been Southwest.

Way too much ancillary revenue from checked bags to make it all free. But free gate checked bags going all the way through to final destination instead of valet bags coming back to the jet bridge would not add any cost. They are going under regardless. It would result in fewer misconnects, happier customers, quicker turns, better regional on D0/A15 performance, etc. Some bean counters somewhere don't see it that way though.

A lot of gate checked bags also won't fit in the overhead of many regional jets, but they will fit in the overhead of mainline.

And that's a problem?