system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
eli5 - when airplane staff at the gate pre-boarding request to have “x” amount of carry on bags to be checked because the flight is so full, why does this matter? Aren’t airplanes designed to have 1x carry on & 1 personal piece of luggage for each passenger?
gpt
Plane carry-on stowing was designed for back in the days when you could stretch your legs because seat rows were far away from each other. Since then, airlines have been squeezing more seating rows into the planes while the stowing luggage space remains the same. It still worked because it was assumed that you would check in your luggage since the first bag was free.

Then your first checked bag was not free and everyone ended up bringing carry-ons to save money. Now there's not enough space for everyone.