Dear Editor
Have just been reading your article regarding the banning of hand luggage in overhead lockers in order to reduce the chances of bodily contact. At first read it makes sense but surely a more sensible solution would be to enforce a stricter regime for boarding all aircraft.
At present people fight to get to their seats first and to claim a locker near their seats, Passengers that are in the low number rows block the aisles so that those people in the higher numbers cannot get to their seats and, in turn, hold everybody else up; result being lots of body contact.
Assuming a front loading plane then the sensible idea would be to board the last rows first and then work towards the front. Likewise if loading from front and back, then start with the middle rows and work outwards. Far simpler and certainly much easier to police.
If this new idea is implemented then major changes will need to be made at the carousels as there will now be more people barging in and shoving to get to the carousel to reclaim their bags and then fighting to get out again once they have retrieved them. A damn sight worse scenario than the current one!
If the authorities introduce a queuing system to get to the carousels, then again there are going to be blockages especially in the height of summer and policing will require a lot of staff.
Back to the drawing boards folks and come up with a workable solution
Barry Weston, Playa Flamenca
