WASHINGTON -- Continental filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against
United, alleging the airline "conspired" to force Continental and
every other airline using Dulles airport to comply with United's
limits on the size of carry-on baggage.
Continental also sued the airport's Airline Management Council,
which voted to install the baggage-sizing templates at the
airport's security checkpoints.
"We have invested millions of dollars in bigger [overhead] bins,
and we want our customers to be able to use them," said a
spokeswoman for Continental, which believes its more flexible
carry-on policy helps it attract business travelers.
"Carriers with poorer baggage service and smaller overhead bins,
are the ones that favor template sizing restrictions, because it's
the only way they can deal with their own shortcomings," she
added.
At Dulles, all passengers go through security screening at a
central point in the terminal to get to gates used by various
airlines. That means the two security checkpoints are jointly used,
although United holds the contract with the security screening
company.
The Airline Management Council at Dulles voted-but not
unanimously--to install the baggage-sizer templates, which are now
in use.
Continental alleges United led a "conspiracy" with other
airlines under the auspices of the council to limit competition by
requiring all airlines' customers to conform to a single,
restrictive standard for carry-on baggage.
The complaint, filed April 24 in the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia, asks for monetary damages and an
injunction to prevent use of the template until the court resolves
the issue.
Continental began expanding its overhead bin space in 1998,
retrofitting 187 aircraft at a cost of $15 million and taking
delivery of 107 new Boeing aircraft from 1998 to 2000 with larger
bins already installed.
Continental said it also installed closet space on every
airplane, including closet space for every first class
customer.
The airline's policy is to allow each passenger to bring two
carry-on bags -- or more if there is room to store them. It also
considers itself more flexible on baggage size.
United is "thwarting our ability to compete on the basis of
offering a superior product that accommodates a broader range of
travelers' needs," the airline said.
United issued a statement defending its use of templates, which
it said "allow us to deliver a better product to our customers by
facilitating faster boarding and more efficient on-time
operations."