Why don't they just push the loaded rack into the airplane?

bombcar · 2024-12-12T15:59:57 1734019197

Weight of the rack is "wasted weight" on the flight, and that costs money.

Each plane is different, so the racks either waste space or have to have tons of different ones.

Many planes don't have easy big doors for racks (the ones you've probably seen are for designated cargo jets - like this: https://www.aircargo.ups.com/media/Containers-Pallets/upsair... )

And now even if you solve all the above, you still have to load the bags into the rack.

killjoywashere · 2024-12-12T16:56:02 1734022562

Why not rear-load like military aircraft and avoid that 90º turn? Then you could have a hull-shaped hopper to drop the bags in, so they are tetris'd together in the right geometry before you get to the ramp. Roll the hopper in, have a pez-despenser style pusher so as you withdraw the hopper, the bags are left behind in the aircraft?

V99 · 2024-12-12T18:34:23 1734028463

Step one would be "get Boeing or Airbus to design, build, certify, and sell thousands of a significantly different airplane model".

That's a big hurdle for an airline to start climbing now to someday maybe start saving money on bag loading in many years.

killjoywashere · 2024-12-12T18:39:32 1734028772

surely someone thought of this before though. There must be a "why not" answer already.

bombcar · 2024-12-12T18:51:05 1734029465

It's expensive and difficult to put a large door on the front or back of a plane, resulting in inefficiencies or maintenance headaches.

The planes that DO have them are almost always military planes not used for other things, or very large jumbos (search 747 cargo or C-5 galaxy).

Almost all other planes are optimized for passengers (the cargo space in even a largish jet may be too short to stand up in, for example).

klausa · 2024-12-12T03:11:46 1733973106

They do for larger planes; but commuter jets and most narrow bodies don’t have enough space in the belly for that.

wavesounds · 2024-12-12T05:41:45 1733982105

Seems like someone needs to invent a rack that can easily change size based on the plane being loaded

killjoywashere · 2024-12-12T16:56:50 1734022610

ah, liquid metal, why didn't I think of that!