航空托運(yùn)的真正目的

You’re just about to board the plane when you hear an announcement at your gate: All carry-on bags now need to be checked. This can be a huge relief (less weight to lug around!), but it can also be a hassle when you’re waiting around at baggage claim and wondering whether your luggage is lost somewhere far away.

當(dāng)你正準(zhǔn)備登機(jī)時(shí)，或許會在門口聽到這樣的通知：所有隨身行李現(xiàn)在都需要托運(yùn)。這既意味著減輕了巨大的負(fù)擔(dān) (隨身攜帶的東西少了)，同時(shí)也會帶來巨大的麻煩：當(dāng)你在行李提取處苦苦等待時(shí)，可能會懷疑自己的行李早就被弄丟了。

The reason airlines sometimes make you check your bags at the last minute might not be what you’re expecting, though. According to Vox, it has less to do with the amount of available space in the overhead bins and more to do with the time that’s being wasted by waiting for fliers to secure their carry-on bags. Aviation economics expert Samuel Engel told Vox that airlines lose money for every minute that the plane isn’t flying. He said carry-on bags are the biggest holdup when it comes to boarding delays, so there's a lot of incentive to speed up the process. “You have this $35 million asset you want to make sure you’re flying 10 or 11 hours of the day,” he said.

事實(shí)上，航空公司有時(shí)會讓你在最后一刻托運(yùn)行李的原因，可能并非如你所想。根據(jù)Vox網(wǎng)站的說法，這與你座位頭頂儲藏箱內(nèi)的可用容量關(guān)系不大，更多則與乘客們確保隨身行李安全時(shí)所浪費(fèi)的時(shí)間有關(guān)。航空經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)專家Samuel Engel透漏道，航空公司在飛機(jī)未起飛的每一分鐘都在賠錢。他還表示隨身行李是導(dǎo)致登機(jī)延誤的最大麻煩，因此才會有很多措施來加快這一過程。他對此解釋道：「要是你有這架3500萬美元的資產(chǎn)，也會想確保每天飛行10或11個(gè)小時(shí)」。

A gate agent at Dallas Fort Worth's airport also told Vox that the staff has just 20 minutes to shepherd passengers onto the plane, and if they take any longer than that, they’re held responsible and could lose their jobs.

此外，一名在達(dá)拉斯沃思堡機(jī)場工作長達(dá)30年的檢票員也透漏道，工作人員只有20分鐘將乘客們帶上飛機(jī)，如果他們花費(fèi)了更長的時(shí)間，就將為此承擔(dān)責(zé)任，甚至還有可能失去工作。

Sometimes, though, the mandatory baggage check is related to space. Gate agents often keep track of the number of passengers who board with carry-on bags that are too large to fit underneath their seats. Planes don’t have enough overhead bin space to allow every passenger to bring a carry-on bag, so there has to be a cut-off at some point.

但有時(shí)候，強(qiáng)制行李托運(yùn)確實(shí)也與空間有關(guān)。檢票員會與空乘人員進(jìn)行飛行前會議，他們需要為登機(jī)過程提前制定計(jì)劃，特別是在航班滿員的情況下。與此同時(shí)，一些經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的檢票員通常也會記錄下手提行李太大而無法放在座位下面的乘客數(shù)量。由于所有飛機(jī)都沒有足夠的頂部空間來讓每位乘客都存放隨身行李，因此才必須在某個(gè)時(shí)刻進(jìn)行攔截。

To make sure you'll have everything you'll need while traveling, try to pack essential items (like medications and your toothbrush) in your personal item bag instead of a carry-on. You wouldn’t want to lose your carry-on and not have a single pair of clean underwear to change into.

所以說，為了確保你會擁有旅行時(shí)所需的一切，請將必需品(如藥物和牙刷)裝入個(gè)人物品袋中，而不是隨身行李內(nèi)。你可不會想在丟失隨身行李后沒有一套干凈的內(nèi)衣可換。