Fed up with airline fees for checked bags? You're not alone. Many of the nation's flight attendants say they feel your pain – literally. More than 80% of attendants claim that they've sustained injuries from helping with passengers' carry-ons. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) is using that data – which the union says comes from a representative sample survey of its 50,000 members – to press Congress to set a standardized size limit for carry-on bags on U.S. commercial flights. Currently, each airline is able to determine its own size limits for carry-on items.
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Among the survey's other findings: About half of the union's attendants claim they've witnessed carry-on items falling from overhead bins during the two months preceding the survey. The AFA-CWA's conclusion? The union says in a release "the survey validated anecdotal reports that carry-on baggage is out of control, mostly due to recent fees to check luggage."
"We now have compelling evidence that flight attendants and passengers are being injured by excess amounts of oversized carry-on items," AFA-CWA chief Patricia Friend says in the release. "AFA-CWA has been urging Congress, government agencies, and carriers to establish reasonable carry-on limitations that will improve the overall safety, health and security of crew and passengers inside the aircraft cabin. These limits will reduce injuries and distractions caused by carry-ons and allow flight attendants to devote more attention to the critical task of ensuring the safest and most secure flight possible."
As part of its efforts to push ahead with its effort, the AFA-CWA has unveiled a website devoted to the top. It can be found at endcarryoncrunch.org.
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