Some of you might be wondering why we have to transfer our overweight hand luggage to the cargo hold of the aircraft when it ultimately flies in the same plane. There are explanations for that, particularly when it comes to the aircraft’s weight and balance. I will now explain why certain weight limitations apply to carry-on luggage and hand luggage.
I’ll also discuss why passengers are charged “excess baggage” fees, which are expensive but understandable if we consider the circumstances.
I hope this would give a clearer understanding on hand-carry items.
Two types of luggage passengers can take with them on board the aircraft
There are two types of baggage that passengers carry when they fly, and these are check-in luggage and carry-on or hand-carry luggage. Taking it by their names, check-in luggage is those items that are to be stored in the cargo hold of the aircraft. Carry-on or hand-carries are those that, we do carry on board!
To guarantee that each piece is within the safe limits for manual handling, checked luggage must not exceed the weight restrictions. This known weight reduces the takeoff weight of the aircraft, leaving less room for cargo.
This extra power serves as the weight safety margin when nothing goes wrong, just as airplanes are built to take off with one malfunctioning engine and to carry reserve fuel in the unfortunate event of failures and diversions. Weight margins are rarely pushed in practice because most flights are volume-limited and have enough weight margin to take off with less power.
Weight and balance is very important for an aircraft performance
An aircraft may not be able to fly safely if it is too heavy when it attempts to take off. In the event of an engine failure, it might still be able to take off, but it might not be able to keep flying.
Furthermore, the weights of the items that can make an airplane overweight (primarily passengers and their luggage) are not always distributed evenly within the safe center-of-gravity (CG) range of the aircraft; thus, packing an aircraft to capacity could potentially push the CG beyond its forward or aft limits, which could lead to loss of control either during takeoff or shortly thereafter.
More weight means more power on the engines needed during take-off which means higher fuel burn.
Weight increases the amount of engine power required for takeoff, increasing fuel consumption. Fuel typically makes up about 30% of an airline’s expenses, so higher fuel consumption translates to higher costs for the airline.
Therefore, why do carry-on luggage weight restrictions differ between airlines even though they all use the same kind of aircraft?
Luggage and cargo, which airplanes are built to carry in the hold, share space in the hold. Recently, cargo has started to outperform passenger service in terms of profitability.
An aircraft has only up to a certain MTOW
A320 weighs 42.6 tons when empty. That doesn’t really matter, though. The MTOW of the aircraft, which is 78 tons, is more important because passenger weight plus hand luggage accounts for a larger portion of that weight, leaving the remaining space for cargo. Airlines must make sure there is enough room set aside for cargo after taking into account passengers and their belongings because this is where they derive their revenue. A plane can only carry a certain amount of weight, keep in mind. Any further would be dangerous.
So, for instance, passenger D will now fly by plane. 7 kg of carry-on luggage and 2 pieces of 25 kg of checked luggage are both allowed. Passenger D exceeds the 7kg carry-on weight limit because he has two check-in bags that weigh 20 kg each and a hand-carry that weighs 10 kg. As a result, he still has 5 kg of weight in his check-in bag. Will it matter that his luggage only weighs 30 kg total, compared to the 57 kg allowed total weight? Yes, because the assumed weight of carry-on items is used to determine their weight rather than their actual weight.
If an aircraft, let’s say an Airbus A320, will carry 175 passengers, the weight of the passengers will be calculated as the assumed weight of the passengers plus 7kg for each carry-on item allowance multiplied by 175. The maximum weight that the overhead bin can carry safely also has a margin of safety. Passenger D must therefore transfer some of the weight from his carry-on luggage to the check-in luggage, which still has room for 5 kg of luggage per item, in order to ensure safety and a proper weight balance.
Airline policies are there for safety reasons
Airline policies are created for many reasons, including safety, in addition to financial gain and cost-increase. Additionally, different airlines have different weight policies for a variety of reasons, all of which are influenced by the market. Always keep in mind that Filipinos enjoy bringing balikbayan boxes and pasalubongs home, which typically go into the aircraft’s cargo hold. As a result, weight limitations must be properly applied. Why doesn’t Delta have a carry-on weight restriction? Evidently, they still do in a few places, including Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai. There is a 7kg carry-on bag limit.
Last but not least, MOST airlines have carry-on luggage weight restrictions!
First love never dies. I fell in love with airplanes and aviation when I was a kid. My dream was to become a pilot, but destiny led me to another path: to be an aviation digital media content creator and a small business owner. My passion for aviation inspires me to bring you quality content through my website and social accounts. Aviation is indeed in my blood and blog!
