In the future baggage check-in will not be allowed Absurd? Ask the owner of Ryanair.
Just imagine all the savings: check-in counters, conveyor belts, complex baggage handling systems, ULDs, racetracks, baggage trailers, ... the list seems endless. Think about it, none of this exists in a railway station. Moreover, existing buildings and parking areas can be used for other things. Finally, the huge labour costs -maintenance and operational staff- can be eliminated at a stroke. No doubt about it, the passenger will benefit for these savings.
Carrying big bags of our stuff around the world, back and forth, doesn't seem very smart.
I have no doubt that the ruthless competition from low-cost airlines The existing ones will push the market in this direction: by plane, hand luggage only.
Of course, many things have to change. Aircraft will have to be redesign to include larger overhead compartments or, as in trains, to incorporate separate luggage compartments, especially on long distance journeys.
It should also re-educating passengers. Some airlines are already doing this. They charge passengers - and not cheaply - for checked baggage. O'Leary says he has “re-educated passengers about the way they travel». Today fewer than 20% of Ryanair passengers check baggage, 80% less than years ago.
If check-in baggage is prohibited, passengers will have to make do with less. Impossible?
Many have already realised that it is not only possible, but also revealing. Less is more. Nowadays, many people no longer go to the airport hours in advance. They just arrive, boarding pass in hand, go through security and hop!... off they fly. Of course, no time is wasted at the baggage belt at the destination either. On arrival, passengers travelling with little luggage manage without any problems. People rent skis or golf clubs at the destination and, if they run out of clean clothes, a few coins will solve the problem at the nearest laundromat.
Hauling big bags of our stuff around the world, back and forth, doesn't seem very smart. Nor does it seem very ecological. We may love him or hate him, but O'Leary's revolutionary ideas not only liberate our time and money; it may - in the long run - also be our souls that are liberated.
