BY The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Associated Press
Delta Air Lines isn't following rival United Airlines' lead in extending a crackdown on carry-on baggage.
Atlanta-based Delta, like United, has experimented with putting Plexiglas cutouts in front of security stations at New York's LaGuardia Airport for the last four months to make sure carry-on bags fit under plane seats or in overhead bins.
Next month, Chicago-based United said it will extend the system to all its airport gates.
"It probably helps that it's right where security is standing," said United spokesman Tony Molinaro. "But we figure if it works well in New York, it'll work well anywhere."
A Delta spokeswoman said it doesn't plan to extend its test to other locations such as the Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky International Airport.
"Our carry-on baggage policy hasn't changed," she said. Last April, Delta tightened its restrictions on carry-ons, limiting the exceptions to its two carry-on bag rule to purses, food eaten on the flight and devices such as crutches and canes. That meant that items such as laptop computers and duty-free bags of goods are no longer exceptions.
Since 1994, Delta has been using metal frames called Size Wise at ticket counters and gates to show travelers what size bags will fit in overhead compartments.
Cincinnati-based Comair uses basically the same policy as Delta except it continues to count laptop computers as exceptions to the two-bag rule, said spokeswoman Meghan Glynn.
"The majority of our passengers are business travelers who typically travel without a lot of baggage," she said.
Carriers have been lobbying the Federal Aviation Administration to adopt a uniform set of standards for baggage size, but have been taking their own steps in the interim.
