By Kathryn A. Wolfe, CQ Staff

Tired of arguing with passengers about the size of their luggage and refereeing disputes over space in the overhead bins, the nation’s flight attendants are lobbying Congress to standardize the maximum size of carry-on bags. The space problem has grown particularly acute, they argue, now that so many airlines are charging to check a bag.

The current carry-on limits, which vary widely among the airlines, are “inconsistent, inadequate, confusing and outdated,” says Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants.

“Passengers must navigate a maze of carry-on baggage programs that differ at each airline,” the union chief says, “while flight attendants continue to have to settle overhead-bin disputes and are oftentimes injured by items that do not meet current guidelines.” Additionally, Friend says, getting passengers and their bulky luggage settled in the crowded cabins can contribute to flight delays.

The airlines, which customize passenger seats and luggage bins for their own purposes — some advertise that they take bigger bags — don’t want federal rules.

“Carriers build the size of the overhead bins for marketing purposes, to meet the needs of their customers,” says David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the major airlines’ trade group. “Why would you take that ability away?”

The flight attendants’ union, which has been trying for more than a decade to get a federal standard, support a House bill by Illinois Democrat Daniel Lipinski that would set maximum dimensions for carry-ons: 22 inches long, 18 inches wide and 10 inches deep. (By comparison, the original Travelpro rolling bag designed for airline crews was a compact 18 by 14 by 7.) The bill would also require security checkpoints to have templates on their conveyor belts to keep out oversize luggage.

With luggage space important in advertising, expect the airlines to fight to protect their flexibility. Delta, Southwest and Jet Blue are currently the most specific about luggage dimensions, while American, Continental, United and US Airways have the loosest rules — they’ll put aboard any bag whose length, width and depth dimensions total no more than 45 inches. The smaller planes on commuter flights are a special problem; some airlines offer free valet checking of carry-ons that won’t fit in bins.

In 1998, in the days when the airlines were responsible for airport security, United introduced carry-on bag templates — metal or plastic frames that tested bags against the maximum allowed dimensions — at security checkpoints it shared with Continental at Dulles International Airport outside Washington. Continental, which at the time allowed larger carry-on bags, sued and won removal of the United templates on antitrust grounds.

In 2002, when the government took over security screening from the airlines, the new Transportation Security Agency removed all bag size templates, believing they would slow down lines.