Airline industry eyes creating universal carry-on bag size

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We've all seen air travelers with too big to fit carry-ons struggle down the airplane aisle, but those days may be gone for good very soon thanks to this little guy.

At just 21 inches tall, 13.5 inches wide and 7.5 inches deep, it's what the International Air Transport Association says is the perfect size for a carry-on bag.

Angela Wilbur says clearly no one at the association is a traveling mom.

"This would be OK height wise, but everything else is not going to work," Wilbur said.

The idea behind the tiny carry on is simple. If all travelers used one this size, an entire plane full of passengers could fit their carry ons in the overhead compartment. No problem, right?

But this bag is only 7 and a half inches deep.

"Leave the proposal alone and let us carry our own carry-on bags," traveler Milton Smith said.

Using determination and elbow grease, Ryan Duong took up the carry on challenge.

"I can barely make that go," he said.

His stuff fits, but so much for that 7 and a half inch depth.

"Make it smaller with some vacuum pack and suck it out," he joked.

Another reason for the smaller bag is so that every airline would have the same size requirements, instead of one airline saying your bag is OK and another saying its too big fit.