Significant decrease in carry on luggage. I've see folks with several large roller bags, knowing that they can gate check them for free, vs. paying to check them at the counter. All have to be screened at the checkpoint to get to the gate. And the large bottles of shampoo and conditioner have to come out. And if those passengers have a fairly early boarding group, the gate crew may not even monitor the number of bags, and just force gate check for the remaining passengers when the bins get full, even if the folks in the cheap seats have followed the rules.
Then, of course, there are the gate folks who don't even monitor size, and let the boarding process stall as someone tries to stuff an oversized bag sideways into one of the bins.
Yup.
Southwest, with no baggage fees, has fewer carry-ons and so plenty of bin space . On Spirit flights, where you pay for carry on, bins are quite empty. The point is valid.
(Some other posters here don’t fly much but have plenty of insight, it seems. As with many other subjects.)
I see that all the time. Why they don’t screen for carry on size at the START of the security line is beyond me.