Editing Suitcase (section)

====1980s to 2000s: Rollaboards and other innovations====
The Rollaboard or roll-aboard (also referred to as a rollerboard, an [[eggcorn]] of the term)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bologna |first1=Caroline |title='Rollerboard' Or 'Rollaboard': What's The Correct Term For A Suitcase? |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rollaboard-rollerboard-suitcase_l_621feda3e4b0a7b54cd8d74c |website=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=27 November 2022 |language=en |date=27 April 2022}}</ref> is an upright wheeled suitcase with two wheels on the bottom and a telescoping handle invented by Robert Plath, a [[Northwest Airlines]] [[Boeing 747|747]] pilot, in 1987.<ref name=sharkey>{{cite news |last1=Sharkey |first1=Joe |title=Reinventing the Suitcase by Adding the Wheel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/05road.html?referringSource=articleShare |access-date=11 April 2021 |work=[[New York Times]] |date=October 4, 2010}}</ref> He had the idea while at a hotel during a layover in Scandinavia as he watched passengers struggle to get their bags, which were attached by bungee cords, out of [[Baggage cart|luggage trolley]]s. He designed the prototype for the Rollaboard in his garage, screwing a hard-shell bag to a luggage trolley, and started to get ideas from other crew members while carrying it around.<ref name="orlsent" /><ref name="abcwheelie">{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Jayne |title=Rollaboard luggage celebrates a wheelie big birthday |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/rollaboard-luggage-celebrates-wheelie-big-birthday/story?id=17024603 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=12 December 2022 |language=en |date=16 August 2022}}</ref> It marked a shift from Sadow's model, which rolled flat on four wheels.<ref name="cntraveler" /> At first, Plath only sold the Rollaboard to fellow pilots and flight attendants, manufacturing and selling 100 of the bags to various crew members in December 1989.<ref name="orlsent" />

In 1991, Plath left Northwest Airlines to start the luggage company Travelpro in [[Deerfield Beach, Florida]], which initially only sold the product to other flight crews.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Richardson |first1=Brenda |title=Rolling Luggage Takes a Load Off Travelers |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-07-18-9407180056-story.html |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=12 December 2022 |date=18 July 1994}}</ref> He hired a team of sales representatives in 1992, and in the mid-1990s, Travelpro started selling Rollaboards commercially in retail stores, making it a competitor of Samsonite, then the largest American luggage manufacturer.<ref name="orlsent">{{cite web |last1=Altaner |first1=David |title=Success in the Bag for Pilot-Entrepreneur |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1993-10-31-9310290555-story.html |website=[[Sun-Sentinel]] |access-date=28 November 2022 |date=31 October 1993}}</ref> Plath sold Travelpro in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Banerjee |first1=Sorboni |title=Behind the scenes at Travelpro luggage lab |url=https://www.fox13news.com/news/behind-the-scenes-at-travelpro-luggage-lab |website=[[WTVT|FOX 13]] |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=22 November 2016}}</ref> The Rollaboard was widely imitated by other luggage companies starting around 1993,<ref name="abcwheelie" /> causing Sadow's design to quickly be almost entirely replaced.<ref name="sharkey" /><ref name="cntraveler">{{cite web |last1=Arikoglu |first1=Lale |title=30 Years Ago, One Suitcase Changed Everything |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-the-rollaboard-suitcase-changed-travel-forever |website=[[Condé Nast Traveler]] |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=22 September 2017}}</ref> Designer Don Ku from [[Flushing, Queens]] invented and patented a suitcase with an extendable handle in 1993.<ref>{{cite news |title=Luggage through the ages |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/luggage-through-the-ages/2011/06/15/AGISduaH_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=15 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Elliott |first1=Annabel Fenwick |title=From the Crusades to robotic cases, the surprisingly interesting 1,000-year history of luggage |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/arts-and-culture/history-of-suitcase-luggage/ |website=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=28 September 2018}}</ref> In 2004, Samsonite started selling the first "spinner-style" suitcase, which had four wheels and could be moved and spun in any direction. Durability testing for suitcases also became more rigorous around this time as they became lighter.<ref name="foxhistory" />