It's really odd to me that airlines decided to charge for checked bags rather than overhead bin storage. Even before it was common to charge for checked bags, almost everyone I've ever met preferred carry-ons whenever possible. And when they "enforce" carry-on bag size limits, the worst thing they'll do is gate-check your bag for free, which is still much better than checking a bag and having to wait there half an hour for it to show up on the carousel anxiously wondering whether you were the lucky one whose baggage they lost today. (Hell, it's arguably the best case scenario, though does still cost you a few minutes waiting.) It's like they go out of their way to give me every possible incentive to be that obnoxious person that always brings his obviously oversized on every flight.
I agree! The airlines would do better to offer free checking for one bag and charge a fee for carry-on (and not oversell carry-on space). Then they could shave off a minimum of 5 minutes for boarding, and maybe much more (10 minutes? 15?). Saving 10 minutes in boarding time may mean one more flight/day for some routes.
Southwest should do this. They are almost the most optimized airline since you can have 2 bags free and a psuedo random boarding process. I imagine that overhead bin space is probably not as contentious on Southwest flights anyway.
