United Airlines has a new plan to avoid gate-checked bags on its regional jet fleet: Larger overhead bins. The carrier will retrofit 50 of its Embraer E-175 aircraft (operated by Skywest) with larger bins, offering up to 80% more carry-on bag capacity in the cabin.
By helping to eliminate the need to gate check bags, we are seeing an increase in gate and boarding satisfaction. – Linda Jojo, United’s chief customer officer
Making passengers happier
With the updated configuration United says it can accommodate up to 29 extra bags on a typical E175 flight, including some larger carry-on bags (i.e. 22″ rollers) that typically do not fit on the regional jets today. The company expects to avoid a million bags being gate checked annually across 150,000 RJ flights (~8 flights per retrofitted plane per day), which is closer to seven bags not checked per flight than 29. But the impact will still be significant for the carrier’s operations.
In addition to the increased capacity, United will also fit the new bins with braille and tactile placards, part of an accessibility initiative the carrier launched last year.
Fuel savings potential
Beyond leaving passengers happier (assuming the gate agents know the larger bins are on board and don’t force unnecessary gate checking) and ground crew less stressed at departure time, the move should also help United reduce fuel burn for the regional operations or occasional weight-restriction limits on longer RJ flights.
Passengers are assigned a standard weight (190-195 pounds), including their carry-on bag, for flight planning purposes. A gate-checked bag gets counted as a separate 35 pounds added to the total weight on board for planning purposes, even though the actual weight of stuff on the plane doesn’t change. With enough checked bags total fuel requirements may shift, to accommodate the theoretical additional weight on board.
Since the actual passenger & bag weight remains lower most of that extra fuel won’t be burned. But the plane will carry it along for the trip, so in the end the aircraft really is heavier than it needed to be, thus burning extra fuel. Similarly, the higher weight in the hold can result in a flight becoming weight restricted and limiting the number of passengers allowed on board.
Building on a strong partnership
The new bins are manufactured by GAL Aerospace. The supplier also worked with United on the interior monuments for its CRJ-550 refresh, another program targeting carry-on bag storage to increase passenger satisfaction (while also keeping United’s RJ fleet Scope Clause compliant).
The deal covers 50 aircraft to be fitted this year. United could increase that to more than 150 E175 by the end of 2026 if the program is successful.
A favor to ask while you're here...
Did you enjoy the content? Or learn something useful? Or generally just think this is the type of story you'd like to see more of? Consider supporting the site through a donation (any amount helps). It helps keep me independent and avoiding the credit card schlock.
Leave a Reply