A miserable Sunday night red-eye flight from Portland to Buffalo signified the end of my spring break. While trying to ignore the delayed departure, crying children and the woman next to me who vomited during the in-flight entertainment, I noticed an economic anomaly that seemed to limit the airline’s efficiency. This inefficiency was found in charging passengers to check bags under the plane.

With a $15 fee for trying to check one piece of luggage, passengers are provided with incentive to bring their luggage as a carry-on. This arises as a problem in several situations. If you’ve traveled by plane in the past decade, you probably realize that security is a little more stringent than it used to be. There’s nothing like waiting like cattle in the security line while a suntanned, middle-aged father is reprimanded for trying to carry toothpaste on the plane.

Furthermore, the mad rush that occurs at the gate when boarding begins is really a battle for the best overhead-compartment space. The last person on the plane will have to check his or her bag anyway when space runs out — costing everyone in time and not one person in money. I don’t even want to mention the feeling of a 20-pound suitcase clipping your forehead when the old lady across the aisle is trying to exit the plane, creating irony out of the flight attendant’s warning: “Please be careful while opening the overhead compartments as contents may have shifted during the flight.”

The luggage fee problem is that the customer is paying to make the airline less convenient, comfortable and efficient. If the fee were reversed, say, by charging for every carry-on bag above a small messenger bag or purse and making checked bags free, the problems associated with too many carry-ons would instantly disappear. People would have less baggage to sort through in the security lines, and there would be less chance for a security breach. The “dead time” of traveling would also speed up. With more room in the overhead bins, room under the seats would increase, resulting in more comfortable, and happier, passengers.

Of course, passengers could always opt to bring their suitcase as a carry-on, but there would be a financial penalty. There will be people who have separation anxiety with their luggage, but they will be forced to pay for that convenience rather than having everyone pay for everyone’s inconvenience.

The idea will definitely not solve some of the other miserable circumstances experienced when traveling by plane, but it has the potential to make each flight a little more comfortable.