January 28, 2026, 12:26 pm | Read time: 5 minutes

The amount of carry-on luggage on flights is increasing. This is partly because more airlines are charging extra fees for checked baggage or only include it in more expensive fares. Onboard, this leads to full overhead bins and stress. Flight attendants like Nikolaus Moehren are witnessing this firsthand.

“What used to be comfortably checked in a suitcase for a week-long summer vacation is now often crammed into carry-on luggage,” says the experienced cabin manager. And: “Many people now carry more than one piece of carry-on luggage, which is often too large. Either they don’t know the airline’s carry-on rules, or they knowingly ignore them,” observes flight attendant Nikolaus Moehren. “This causes additional problems because on fully booked flights, the overhead bins are sometimes overflowing halfway through boarding.”

Moehren works as a cabin manager at Lufthansa and is involved in the flight safety working group at the flight attendants’ union UFO. He says, “The basic solution would be to simply check your booking shortly before: What am I actually allowed to bring?”

In the interview, he provides further insights into what frustrates him and offers practical tips on how passengers can optimally stow their carry-on luggage.

Mr. Moehren, have you ever hurt yourself while stowing carry-on luggage?

Nikolaus Moehren: “No, fortunately, I haven’t injured myself or gotten hurt. That might be due to my build. I’m 6 feet 5 inches tall, athletic. So, if necessary, I can heft a heavy piece of luggage up. But even for us, I work as a cabin manager at Lufthansa, we’re advised not to do that—it’s about workplace safety. It’s not a prohibition. I always tell my cabin crew: ‘Don’t touch anything that’s too heavy for you.’

Of course, we help an elderly lady or someone who is physically restricted. But I don’t need to stow the carry-on luggage for a sporty family father or a businessman in his prime, and I mention them quite deliberately here. Fundamentally, we are not baggage handlers but flight attendants—and responsible for safety on board.”

How should passengers pack their carry-on luggage so that as many others as possible can still stow their small suitcases?

Moehren: “Cabin trolleys are best pushed in with the wheels facing the cabin wall. In newer overhead bins, I can stand them upright—that’s ideal, as it creates more space. In older bins, that’s not possible. But even if the trolleys lie sideways, you can at least place a handbag or jacket on top and stuff a bit.

What I have to keep reminding passengers: With their seat, they haven’t automatically booked the exact overhead bin above it. So please don’t be upset if you have to walk three or four meters further to stow your carry-on in a bin because the one above your seat is already full.

And if nothing fits up top, then please place the carry-on under the seat in front. It works. I’m tall myself and can still sit comfortably in our economy class with a backpack or cabin trolley between my feet.

Speaking of clothing: Apart from the rows at the emergency exit, there are always coat hooks on the back of the seat in front. This would also significantly reduce problems in the overhead bins if coats were hung there more often.”

Can a flight be delayed because of issues with carry-on luggage?

Moehren: “Yes, that can happen. At the moment the plane starts taxiing, all passengers must be seated, and the overhead bins must be closed, so nothing can fall out if the plane hits a bump on the way to take off.

Especially at large airports like London, Paris, or Frankfurt, departure slots are sometimes very tight—if you miss yours, you might have to wait an hour for the next available one. That’s why you really have to hurry, and if shortly before the planned taxiing, passengers are still standing in the aisle, not knowing where to put their backpacks, the big stowing rush begins.

But we can’t create space where there is none. If necessary, we have to unload the luggage into the cargo hold, which then causes a real delay. And the reasons for this are not always that there’s a lack of space on board for the amount of carry-on luggage, but that it wasn’t efficiently stowed or passengers, for example, refuse to place carry-on under the seat in front instead of in the overhead bin.

Honestly: a little more consideration for fellow travelers, a little more common sense—that would go a long way.

With material from dpa

The German original of this article was published in April 2025.