Why the Overhead Baggage Bin Became a Battle

On a plane, our ticket pays for a seat, a safe trip, maybe some chips.

Other things though, we are not sure of. At econlife, we also asked if we can recline into the space behind our seat. In addition, we wondered who controls the window shade.

We do know however, who owns the overhead bin.

No one.

The Airplane Overhead Baggage Bin

Queued outside the plane, preparing to board, we ready ourselves for the rush to find a space in the overhead bin for our one carry on. The hassle begins when we find no room in the bin above our seat. Perfectly described in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, we cope with, “the travelers who stuff everything they lugged onto the plane into the overhead bin as if they owned it.”

Other irritated people include the “minimalists” that board with just one backpack. Planning for legroom under the seat in front, their plans are upset by the attendant that asks them to move the pack down. Responding, one traveler said, “I paid to check my bag, and for the extra legroom, and now I have to suffer because someone tries to fit three weeks’ worth of crap in the overhead?”

Bin behavior can be explained by the Tragedy of the Commons. Because we have none of the incentives created by ownership, we create the tragedy of the commons. First described in 1968 by Garret Hardin, a resource owned by no one is abused by everyone. We pollute the air and overfish the ocean. We don’t wash a rental car. In an airplane, sharing the bin, individuals make their own rules. They shove aside others’ property, they use space above someone else’s seat. They clog up aisles, and slow down boarding,

Our Bottom Line: The Problem of the Commons

Economics Nobel prize winner (established in 1968 long after the others, it is not really a Nobel) Elinor Ostrom said we actually have a solvable Problem of the Commons. Her research displayed that voluntary community cooperation eliminates the abuse of a shared resource. One example was a Swiss pasture for which farmers met and formed rules that all observed. Similarly, she explained how a previously messy faculty refrigerator became neat. In both examples, they needed no central planner. People cooperate more than we expect.

Why not the bin?

My sources and more: Thanks to WSJ for inspiring today’s post.