Airline Temporarily Bans Checked Bags To Prevent Jets From Running Out Of Fuel

Checked bags are often heavier and larger than carry-ons, which is one of the reasons why many airlines now charge travelers for the luxury of having their luggage stowed in the cargo hold. But one airline is telling some long-haul passengers to not check their bags because of safety concerns.

In an alert on its website, Malaysia Airlines advised passengers flying from Kuala Lumpur to Paris and Amsterdam today and tomorrow that they should try to not fly with checked bags.

The concern is that the extra weight, combined with unusually strong headwinds and longer flightpaths, could put the carrier’s planes at risk for running low on fuel before they reach their destinations.

Bloomberg reports that even carry-on bags are being limited to one piece weighing no more than 15 pounds. Travelers who do check luggage will have to wait for it to eventually arrive at their destination via other means.

Affected passengers are being the given the option of rebooking travel at a slightly later date. If they can neither reschedule nor fly without checked bags, the airline is offering to let them cancel their reservations and apply the value of that ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket at some point within one year of whenever that original ticket was first issued.

In 2014, two Malaysia Airlines flights tragically never made it to their destinations. Flight MH370 disappeared over the South China Sea en route to Beijing in March 2014. Four months later, flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine.

In Sept. 2014, the carrier had to apologize for its misguided “bucket list” promotion that many thought was in bad taste, given these two incidents that killed hundreds and left no survivors.

[via Bloomberg]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist