Airline Industry Proposes "Perfect" Carry-on Bag

Above, my "monolith" suitcase (with my camera bag) in the doorway of
a snow-stranded train in Chiba Prefecture last year. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The airline industry is finally proposing what size the "perfect" carry-on bag should be.

I rarely ever brought aboard a carry-on bag on a flight. This is especially so ever since I bought The Monolith (a big black rolling suitcase that resembles The Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey) about 11 years ago. It has gone with me to Japan six times over the years. It would never work as a carry-on bag.

I have seen carry-on luggage of various sizes and shapes over the years. Some seemed ridiculously huge and should have been checked in.

According to an article in Japan Today:

MIAMI BEACH —The perfect-sized bag was proposed this week by the world’s largest airline association, as it aims to resolve how to squeeze everyone’s carry-on luggage onto a crowded plane. 

The rolling suitcase would be small enough to allow every passenger on a flight of 120 people or more to fit one bag in the overhead space near their seat, said Tom Windmuller, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) senior vice president for airport, passenger, cargo and security. 

Windmuller said when he compared it to his own bags, he found it was smaller than his personal carry-on but bigger than his wife’s. 

The precise size is 55 centimeters (21 inches) tall, 35 centimeters (13.5 inches) wide and 20 centimeters (7.5 inches) deep.

To read more, go here.