Packed airline cabins ramp up fliers' stress levels

— -- Russell Meyer has flown frequently on business trips for 20 years, but he's never been as uncomfortable as today.

"It is like flying in a sardine can," says the 60-year-old La Plata, Md., man who sells scales and slicing and wrapping machines. "Most of my recent flights are overbooked and packed to the gills."

A growing number of frequent fliers are complaining about crowded planes and lack of space to put carry-on bags in overhead luggage bins. Crowded cabins, fliers and flight attendants say, have increased the stress of travel.

"Complaints are up, and expectations are down," says Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, which represents more than 2,500 corporate travel managers and suppliers.

Airlines say it's the busy summer travel season, and planes aren't fuller than last summer. "It's people's perception that planes are more crowded, but the comfort level hasn't changed," says David Castelveter, vice president of the Air Transport Association, an airline trade group.

The latest statistics show that during the first three months this year, planes were fuller than ever. Seats on U.S. airlines' domestic and international flights were 77.2% full, compared with 76.8% during the same period last year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Fliers may worry that flight and route cutbacks will lead to more-crowded planes, and that new fees to check even a single bag will prompt passengers to carry more items onboard. Airlines say flight cutbacks so far have been minor, and new checked-bag policies haven't yet had an impact.

More flight and route cutbacks, however, have been announced for the fall, and on June 15, American Airlines began charging for each checked bag. On July 9, US Airways begins charging for each bag. United Airlines began charging for a second checked bag earlier this year and will begin charging for each bag on Aug. 18.

More space for a price