Who says no one cares about the traveller? Here are two recent developments that are prioritising the needs of the traveller – or are they?

On Tuesday IATA announced a new initiative “to optimise the accommodation of carry-on bags given differing carry-on bag sizes and airline policies” – only to put the plan on hold later this week.

IATA believes it is solving the problem of carry-on bag sizes on behalf of passengers. The suggestions are not set in stone, however, and each carrier may continue to set its own standards.

The thing is, an excuse to shrink baggage allowances – and potentially force travellers to pay to check their bag – is likely to appeal to airlines.
In 2014, US airlines alone collected $3.5 billion in baggage fees. Of course IATA and the airlines state this is for the benefit of the traveller and not the airline.

The other idea comes from the Chinese budget carrier, Spring Airlines, which wants to introduce standing ‘seats’ on planes and at cheaper prices than regular seats.

The configuration could increase the airline’s capacity by up to 40 per cent.

The concept isn’t new. In 2012, Ryanair brought up the idea of standing seats, though the airline said it was not currently considering the concept and the industry thought it was just another headline-grabbing piece of PR.

But perhaps not. I wait in anticipation of my first standing flight…