#048 Airplane Baggage Storage

I've been doing a lot of travelling lately, some in cars but mostly on airplanes. On my recent trips I have flown in Embraer 145 jets which have only one seat on the left side of the aisle, and two seats on the right. Due to the curvature of the plane, there is more narrow space below the seats for foot room and extra under-seat baggage storage than there is actually at the seat-level. Also, only the right side of aisle (above the two seats) has the overhead compartment, which is considerably smaller than larger planes' storage areas. Having smaller compartments leads to some tricky baggage storage situations: some people have to gate-check their baggage such that they're issued a tag at the gate and their bag is immediately transferred from the sky bridge to the belly of the plane, or you must attempt to put your larger carry-on (if it doesn't fit above you) underneath the seat in front of you which significantly reduces the amount of leg room you have.

What I have a problem with is people who think it's okay to place their carry-on(s) in the forward compartments of the cabin as opposed to carrying their bags to the rear of the cabin and placing them near their seats. I understand that it’s kind of a pain in the ass to carry your bags (which can be awkward at times) through the tiny, cramped cabin and try to stuff them above or below where you're seated... but isn't it only fair to try to get them closer to your OWN seat as opposed to placing them in the space nearest other people?

When there is assigned seating, most airlines load the rear of the cabin first so that there’s less bumping of others and so that it’s more comfortable for everyone and to try and expedite the boarding process. But when the people try to board the plane last who are seated in the front of the cabin arrive, they have no place to store their bags because the people at the rear didn’t bother taking their bags to the rear of the plane with them! They are left no choice but to either suffer with all of their bags below the seat in front of them or underneath their legs or on their laps (or all three!), or they must walk their bag(s) all the way to the rear of the cabin and store them there, which means they will have to wait until everyone else has exited the plane to walk all the way back to retrieve their bag(s). This makes the whole boarding/de-boarding process extremely inefficient. If some passengers have connecting flights they must hurry off to catch, any delay could be critical to making their next flight! Any time saved loading and unloading the plane can make all the difference.