You thought the big news was about a Delta/United merger? Nah, that’s not news . . . yet. Airlines talk about mergers all the time, and until I see an actual proposal, I’m not going to bother worrying about it. So far we have a hedge fund that has money in both airlines and wants to see them combine. They’ll make them a ton of money, and then it will turn into a huge mess for the airlines afterwards. This is all assuming that it actually happens at some point, and I’m far from convinced.

So for now, let’s focus on real news. This is coming from the UK. No, I’m not talking about the BA ghost flights. I’m talking about the end of the one carry-on rule at UK airports!

Now, don’t get too excited just yet. My exclamation point is a bit premature. If you’re flying today, you won’t see a difference, but change is coming. According to the BBC, on January 7 of next year, the requirement that airports only allow one carry-on bag through security will be eliminated. Now sadly that doesn’t mean that you can bring the standard 1+1 (purse, briefcase, etc) that you’re allowed in the rest of the free world right away. Each airport has to work to make the change.

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said, “We are inviting each airport to submit plans to take advantage of new technology, operational innovations, and unexploited capacity in the system to make a real difference to passengers as soon as possible.”

Blah blah. When will it happen?

The assumption is that UK airports will have all applied to do this within a few months, but there’s no indication how long it may take to get it approved. And really, most of the world outside of the UK just wants to know when the London airports (especially Heathrow) will change, since those carry the bulk of passenger traffic. Once that happens, people will have one less reason to avoid flying through London.

UPDATE Nov 19 @ 316p: Musings of The Global Traveller came across an article saying that BAA, which runs many of the UK’s large airports, won’t have the ability to take 2 carry ons per passenger at any airport. They will, however, allow First and Business class passengers to carry on a second bag at Heathrow. That’s it. Booooooooo! No wonder people hate BAA. Keep avoiding LHR for now . . . .