No matter what happens, the passengers will end up paying for it. If TSA starts charging the airlines for the extra work, the costs will end up in the fares. If TSA charges a tax on the passenger tickets, that ends up out of my pocket. It is a no-win situation for the passengers.

Thats true! And also why I havent been on an airplane since 2005. Dont plan to anytime soon. I actually enjoy driving. I am not going to pay $1600 for my family of 4 to fly from Phoenix to Milwaukee.

We travelled today on JetBlue from NYC to Sarasota. Why would you carry all that stuff on board when they offer free checked baggage, especially to a small airport? This is basically an insult to your fellow passengers. Plus which, passengers do not neccessarily put their stuff above themselves, but take up others' space. I've not observed such selfish behavior in a long time; but we've not travelled in a while. Glad we've missed it.

I'm a frequent traveler logging in as many as 60+ flights a year. I don't check my luggage just to shorten the amount of time I'm in the airports. I figure I gain an extra 80 - 120 hours a year by not checking luggage. As a frequent flier I get a free baggage allowance but don't use it.

NeenerNeener!

Hang on a sec !!!! The airlines and the government are gonna screw us for even more money? How is this even newsworthy? IT'S THE CORPORATE AMERICA WAY OF LIFE!!! We already know this. Try reporting something like, oh i dunno, how the American public starts to fight back!!! Let's start by having a national no-fly day. Or a national "gonna keep my money in my pocket" day. When, not if, that happens report on it. 'Til then please find something newsworthy to report.... my2pennies...

A taxpayer is one who does not travel.

We taxpayers should pay for it like anything else. (Even if I haven't flown in years). We should just add more debt as fast as possible so this country can crash even sooner. That way our great-grandkids might have a shot at starting the cycle over sooner.

 I will start to boycott the airlines and use a train when I need to and drive the other times it's nice to drive you can stop when you want and have more room as well. Every  body needs to stop flying and put the guys in their place. Every body needs to find at least one place in their own state they haven't been and take vacation there. As for me I have canceled 3 having to fly vacations this year already and going to start getting closer to home for vacation.

I to have had things stolen out of my bag, I to have had a lost check baggage and no replacement for it. I to have had my luggage broken and no replacement. I have even been on a airplane once where after you get in the air the flight agent announces we apologize but the bath room is out of order.

What did TSA expect? Let's see...pay $15 - $40 on top of all the taxes and fees that air travelers are already charged...or throw it in a couple of carry-ons and let TSA deal with it? Be serious, folks. Everyone saw it coming. If TSA ends up hiring additional staff, it won't come out of travelers' pocketbooks (unless they charge the airlines, which means they'll pass the costs on to travelers) -- taxpayers will eat the cost, sure as shootin'.

And don't threaten to boycott the airlines -- please, don't insult my intelligence. That's as dumb as the so-called "don't buy gas at the pumps" day -- it doesn't work. It never works. Suck it up, pack lighter (yeah, right), and fly Southwest if you can.

Air travel used to be fun and a joy. Now is is uncomfortable, frightening, and nerve wracking. Flight attendants used to be courteous and helpful. I personally would pay a little more to have service and comfort, although I can't afford first class. I worry about the news that airplanes are germ ridden, that one can get scabies, colds, flu, bitten by bed bugs, get an e coli infection, etc. I avoid air travel as much as possible and my husband will not fly unless there's no choice. I marvel at people who carry so much on planes. I thought one could only take a small carryon and a handbag or computer. Why are people allowed to carry on so much? They should be charged for carry on and get checked for free. Or if they have to charge make it more for carry on than checked.

Unless i get paid for it, I drive. There have been very few times i have travelled with just a carry on as usualy my trips take a couple of weeks to several months. I have had checked luggage go completely around the world where as my flight was across country. It was very ugly when i had to get new clothes for a 3 days while they found my stuff. I have had that happen about 4 times so far and it is losing its fun factor. The airlines should have at least comped me the mileage my bags took...lol. If i have the option to just do carry on, i go for it. I can usually get it all under my seat too wich is also a problem with some people seem to stick it all in the over head and stow nuthing under the seat. I can see that on a cross country flight but not local ones. If i can get it under my seat, i see no reason i have to pay for it.

The issue I have is not the volume of carry on but the size of many of these are far greater than that box size in front of check in-boarding area, which is to be the guidelines for both the passengers and the check in airline staff. I have never seen any of these over size carry on bags rejected while boarding. As to who should be responsible for the mentioned cost-should be those doing the travel.

Listen; you idiots not checking bags makes boarding and un-boarding take 10 times longer than it did a few years ago. How much does that cost all of us? Even on Southwest it takes 20+ minutes because everyone refuses to check bags. The lazy, cheap travelers that won't spend $20 checking a bag but will spend $100 at the airport bar, and then take forever trying to find a bin to stuff they're 9 bags into are the problem! The real question is; why do the airlines let these animals ruin the travel times for the rest of us?

It is truly amazing what people carry on just to avoid a checked baggage fee. Here I am packing light with a single bag the size of a backpack in the overhead and my laptop in the foot well, and yet there's plenty of people bringing on luggage that wastes space in the overhead bin. The gates have that metal box for a reason. Why aren't the attendants having people do the "fit it in the box" routine? If you're traveling for business, you're on the company's dime, not your own so check the bag. Business owners may be able to write this off as a business expense on taxes. Going someplace for more than 2 or 3 days either on vacation or visiting family? Just check the bags.

Is your destination less than a thousand miles away? Try driving. 15 hours at interstate speed will get you there (avoid going through cities, they tend to slow you down during rush hour).

If you were to see me going through airport security, I'd be the guy wearing the slip on shoes or flip flops in a t-shirt and shorts. Everything in the pockets goes in the backpack going through the scanner while I'm down to the bare minimum going through the detector. Traveling by air aint what it used to be so you just have to adapt and make things easier.

When thrown lemons, make lemonade.

You're right -- that dumb "if it doesn't fit in here, check it through!" display in gate waiting areas is a waste of time, because I've seen folks try and put Pullman trunk-sized "carry ons" in the overhead bins -- all because they don't want to hassle around with waiting at the luggage carousel -- and then they get irritated when their I've-packed-for-3 months-and-it's-all-going-in-the-overhead carry-ons won't fit.  Tough.  Pack lighter.  Take a 2nd, lighter, smaller carry-on.  Or just deal with checking your luggage.  And don't you just love those jerkwads who take up 2 passengers'-worth of overhead storage space?  Some of the most miserable, conceited, it's-all-about-me people are the ones you meet on board aircraft.  Flying is so glamorous -- really, it is...

Quote: Mr. Herbst said most airlines continue to fly with full airplanes. “Last year, there were record high load factors. If there is that much discouragement about going through the screening process, how come we’ve got load factors so high?” Unquote

Well, that is a stupid question and answer. The reason load factors are so high is that all the airlines have taken aircraft out of service. Defacto..... few airplines, the same or even a bit few passengers and your load factors are up into the 90's....which they are.

And I stay home because of all of..... most certainly TSA (the jergens hand lotion on my daughters hands registered as explosive material last year..... I have to go back and watch McGiver for that want.... you never know when you might need to kluge together some explosive out of the materials in your purse). I am obese and i most assuredly do not like the idea of someone snickering at my full body scan..... or even for some of the weirdos in the world.... getting aroused......ew, ew, ew. Luggae? My husband who must travel frequently for work just downsized to a carry on size piece of luggage to save the time he has to wait for it to show up at the carousel. The seats have only got smaller (even before I got heavy they were smaller) so my legs (and I am only 67") get cramped up on long flights.

As a result I only fly once a year when my husband wants to go away on vacation and it is cross country. I could be traveling with him on several of his trips each year but I choose to absolutely avoid flying when I can. If I can drive I do. I only fly when we are time constrained by his work.

Checked baggage fees are not going to go away. However...here is a suggestion for the airlines to consider: there is only so many cubic feet of storage space in the overhead bins. Start charging those customers that utilize more than their share of that space a premium. They could actually start enforcing the carry-on baggage size requirements and if someone's carry-on exceeds the limits, bingo! another $20.00 fee.

Bendover travelers. Another new fee or increase is on the horizon. You're naive if you don't believe they will pass this on to the travelers. The greedy airlines caused this problem, but we will pay for it in the end, so to speak.

You are all idiots. You travel by plane yet don't want to reduce the problem of TSA lines. Planes are designed for people in seats and luggage in the belly. This will allow people to board planes quicker and comfortably. You over-sized carry-on bag idiots slow boarding, whack seated passengers, then take overhead space 8 rows from your seat. You are the cause of the hassles traveling by plane. Charge a fee to you carry-on bag people. And give up on the lost luggage complaints.