quote:

You knew it was coming. Calling it the "next phase of unbundling,'' Spirit Airlines announced today that it would begin charging fees for carry-on bags on tickets purchased after April 5 for travel beginning in August.
The levies will range from $20-$45, depending on whether you are a member of the airline's frequently flier group, the $9 Fare Club, and whether you "pre-reserve'' space for your bag or pay for it at the gate. Discounts for Fare Club members will be available through the end of June, according to a company press release. The charges will apply only to bags placed in overhead bins; "personal items'' that can fit under the seat still fly free -- for now.

The question is: Whether other carriers will follow and when. Over the past couple of years, nearly all the airlines have adopted fees for checked bags, with the notable exception of Southwest, which lets passengers check two for free, and JetBlue, which spots you one. (Here's a recent list of baggage charges.) I've noticed since then that it appears more passengers are carrying on.

http://www.boston.com/travel/b...spirit_to_charg.html

Hi,
Public response to Spirit's move has been overwhelmingly poor, and I doubt other airlines will follow suit. But the trend of airlines charging more for everything the public will grumble about but accept will continue.

What they really should do is enforce the size limitations for carry-on bags.

 
The original premise for charging extra for checked luggage was to help cover the outrageous fuel costs during the summer of 2008... but that doesn't work as justification for anything other than a corporate money grab per the As price of jet fuel plummets, airline surcharges defy gravity article (written in 09/2008) when jet fuel was was well on its way back down again.

Then, in 2009:

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"The US airline industry collected USD670 million in baggage fees in 2Q2009, up 18.2% from first quarter levels, and a massive 275.7% year-on-year increase, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)." (Chart showing baggage fee collections from 1Q2005 to 2Q2009 ...

"Commencing in early 2008, most of the US carriers commenced charging for the first and second bags checked by passengers. Previously, additional charges were not applied until the third bag was checked.

The claimed reason behind the baggage fees was to help the carriers offset high fuel prices, which have subsequently fallen from their highs of around USD145/barrel (WTI) to around USD67/barrel (they are currently down 31% year-on-year).

Some US airlines now covering as much as 38% of their total fuel costs in the form of baggage fees, with Spirit, AirTran, US Airways and Frontier's baggage fees reaching 20% or more of total fuel costs in the second quarter." (Table)

Source

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Now contrast the majority of airline's strategies for off-setting higher fuel costs (and continuing to benefit, by billions of dollars) with how Southwest (they reduced their free checked pieces from three to two and, as of 06/17/2009 the 3rd-9th piece of luggage flies at $50/bag) kept their costs low... hedging on oil fuel prices. Per Wiki:

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"To lock in the low historical prices Southwest believed were occurring at that time, Southwest used a mixture of swaps and call options to secure fuel in future years while paying prices they believed were low. The company also stated that with this new strategy, it faced substantial risks if the oil prices continued to go down. They did not. Previously, Southwest had been more interested in reducing volatility of oil prices. Now, they hoped to reap large gains from oil price appreciation.

In 2001, Southwest again substantially increased its hedging in response to projections of increased crude oil prices. The use of these hedges helped Southwest maintain its profitability during the oil shocks related to the Iraq War and later Hurricane Katrina.

According to an annual report, here is the company’s fuel hedge for forward years ("approximate" per barrel basis, as of mid-January): 2007 is 95% hedged at $50/barrel; 2008 is 65% hedged at $49/barrel [when jet fuel hit $145/bbl]; 2009 is over 50% hedged at $51/barrel; 2010 is over 25% hedged at $63/barrel [jet fuel is currently ~$90/bbl]; 2011 is over 15% hedged at $64/barrel; 2012 is 15% hedged at $63/barrel."

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So once again we see the American public rewarding corporate bad behavior (by paying through the nose for checked and now carry-on baggage) instead of "suggesting" (by not using) said corporations run more efficiently as has been proven successful by that lil' upstart, Southwest.

*CJ

Hi,
Several other airlines have come out publicly on record as against Spirit's move, and Sen. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has even come up with a bill against it.