Flying Alaska Airlines Soon? Bring Smaller Bags

Planning summer vacation or business travel on Alaska Airlines? Be ready to pack a little lighter with your carry-on bags, as Alaska is reducing the allowed sizes.

This change means that permitted carry-on bags will now max out at 32% smaller than what you might be used to traveling with. Alaska Air Group (who owns Alaska, Virgin America, and Horizon) says this will bring unify them with the sizes allowed by most other carriers.

The change will take effect June 4th, and limit the size of carry-on bags to 22 inches long,14 inches high, and 9 inches wide. That does match the sizes allowed by Delta, United, and American. This limit is not a federal regulation, but instead a more informal rule determined by the key carries included in that list.

As more and more travelers choose to abandon the expense and inconvenience of checking luggage, overhead bin space has become more crowded. Many frequent Alaska passengers suspect the demand on space likely has more to do with the changes, as opposed to unifying with other air carriers.

For many of us traveling in and out of BOI, many Alaska flights had been on Q400 aircraft that utilized the Horizon "a la carte" service (where bags were dropped and picked up plane side. This allowed for larger bags not to cause a problem inside the cabin, but with the Horizon fleet becoming more and more E175 jets, the overhead bins are now the primary location for carry-on luggage, and likely also presented more challenges with larger bags.

You can read more about the coming changes in the LA Times.