Malaysia Airlines Stirs Up Controversy, Bans Checked Bags to Europe
Malaysia Airlines is prohibiting checked baggage on Tuesday and Wednesday on flights to Paris and Amsterdam. (Photo: AP)
In a move that confused many and angered others, Malaysia Airlines banned passengers from checking luggage on flights to Paris and Amsterdam.
The airline, which as been no stranger to bad news over the past two years, issued the rule for flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, citing “unseasonably strong headwinds” on its new flight route.
The longer flight path to Europe now takes the Boeing 777 aircraft over Egyptian airspace, which according to the airline, was decided due to safety reasons. The previous path took planes over eastern Ukraine, where a Malaysia Airlines jet flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a missile in 2014. That incident killed all 298 people on board.
Related: Another Bad Headline for Malaysia Airlines—Plane Goes Wrong Way
As one might expect, passengers were up in arms over the news, with many taking to social media to air their grievances. According to the AP, travelers bombarded the Malaysia Airlines Facebook page, complaining about their decision and asking for refunds.
The airline announced that passengers could reschedule flights for free, but would receive no other compensation.
Eliminating checked baggage is presumably the airlines way to avoid getting a weight penalty for the extra fuel it will need to carry on the longer route. But according to Joe Brancatelli from Joe Sent Me, there are two ways that airlines typically deal with this issue.
(Photo: Malaysia Airlines/Facebook)
“If an airline needs to take a weight penalty to carry more fuel, they will sell fewer seats,” he told Yahoo Travel. “That’s why you’ll sometimes see a seat or entire section empty on a plane.”
“Another option is to limit the number of bags each person can check,” he continued. “I have never heard of them stopping checked luggage for all passengers. That’s new to me.”
Those traveling in Malaysia Airlines’ economy class are only permitted to carry a cabin bag weighing no more than 15.4 pounds. Business and first class passengers can carry two pieces of luggage totaling 30.8 pounds.
The baggage limit does not affect flights from those cities heading to Malaysia.
None of the other carriers operating in Southeast Asia are making similar adjustments — which only supports Brancatelli’s notion that this wasn’t the best call.
“It’s crazy and impractical. It’s not what an airline that’s running logically would do,” he said. “That’s been Malaysia Airlines’ problem in the last 10 years.”
In addition to the plane gunned down over the Ukraine, this news is just the latest in a string PR nightmares for the airline.
In Dec., Malaysia Airlines made headlines when a flight taking off from Auckland, New Zealand to Kuala Lumpur flew in the wrong direction because air traffic control was given the wrong flight plan.
And theories are still circulating as to what happened to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which disappeared somewhere over the Indian Ocean in March 2014 with 239 passengers on board.
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