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Comments (18)
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Save/ShareA new bill would guarantee that each airline passenger could check one bag for free, and never have to pay for a carry-on.
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) recently introduced legislation called the Airline Passenger BASICS Act. BASICS, in this case, means Basic Airline Standards to Improve Customer Satisfaction. The two key basics Landrieu wants provided for each airline passenger on domestic flights in the U.S. are 1) one checked bag, free of charge; and 2) one carry-on bag, free of charge.
If an airline doesn't comply with the BASICS, so to speak, and (BIG if) if the bill actually becomes law, the carrier would have to deal with the FAIR Act that Landrieu is also planning on introducing. That acronym stands for Fair Airline Industry Revenue, and any airline that continues to charge for a carry-on or a first checked bag would be subjected to increased security fees.
For obvious reasons, the airlines oppose any such bills. Steve Lott, the Airline Transportation Association's spokesperson, told the Los Angeles Times:
Obviously we don't think it's appropriate for the government to regulate what services a private industry should offer to customers and at what price.
Landrieu sees things differently. When introducing the BASICS bill, the statement she released noted:
When an airline advertises a flight, that is how much it should cost, plain and simple. Passengers should not be charged additional fees for checked or carry-on baggage, drinkable water or other reasonable requests. Air travel can be a stressful experience for many reasons, but unfair fees for basic amenities should not be one of them.
Beyond the idea that a reasonable amount of baggage should be provided with the purchase of each airline ticket, proponents of the bill point out that increased checked-baggage fees have resulted in a sharp increase in carry-on bags. The rise in passenger carry-ons, in turn, has resulted in slower screening processes at TSA checkpoints. The costs to screen all of these bags have risen too. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that the increase in carry-ons costs the federal government an extra $260 million per year.
Does the bill have a chance of becoming law? It seems somewhat unlikely. Even if it does, that won't mean the end of airline fees. As one business traveler told the Washington Post, chances are that if the airlines aren't allowed to charge for checked bags, here's what's likely to happen:
The airlines are just going to find some other way to make it up by charging us for something else.
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The fact that an airline charges a fee for this is NO SECRET and no one can say they're surprised. How an airline or any other business decides to run its business is ITS BUSINESS. If passengers don't like it, they will fly with someone else. Ms.Landrieu might as well insist that movie theaters include popcorn in the price of a ticket or that a slice of cheese on a burger ought not to cost a quarter extra. I SUPPORT charging for even a first checked bag because I do not like subsidizing, in my base fare, the needs and habits and wants and desires of other people. You insist on packing it, for whatever reason, then you should pay for it. But I also support taxing airlines' ancillary revenues, like bag fees to pay for, among other things, the increased costs of screening the many carry-on bags that passengers insist on bringing on the plane. I also support the airlines actually enforcing their own rules. If someone drags a bag all the way to the gate only to be told it must be checked, they should not only have to pay the same fee everyone else did. They should have to pay $5-10 EXTRA for making the TSA screen it and for gumming up the system for everyone else.
Posted By Toni on December 1, 2011, 8:34 AM
i agree--one checked bag should be free because you NEED it. suitcase, or similar, carryons should be charged for as those are a "want" not a need as people don't want to wait at the carousel and for that luxury, you should pay. a shopping bag or a similar portable item, carried on, including laptops, etc. should be free
Posted By Toby Lerner on December 5, 2011, 9:46 AM
You can't regulate the marketplace. I retired from the airline industry after 45 years of service. The only reason airlines charge for bags is because the base fare will not cover all costs. If the airlines are required to allow one free bag, the fares will be adjusted to make up for it. Airline travel is not free. The consumer will pay for this one way or another - they have to or the airlines will go out of business. And do you really believe the government knows what's best???
Posted By David on December 5, 2011, 11:07 AM
The government has to protect the consumer from the greedy airlines, indeed from other greedy commercial enterprises. If 1 checked bag cannot be free for at least international travel, or for domestic travel of at least 7+ days, at least the fees should not be what they are. It has reached the point where it has become ludicrous.
I agree, government is very dysfunctional right now, but if some legislators are looking to protect us on the airlines, so much the better for us. If they can't agree to solve the debt and tax crises, if they would pass this, we could have some measure of comfort. The airlines are becoming much too greedy regarding the basic necessities for travel.
Posted By Linda on December 5, 2011, 11:52 AM
I think baggage charges should at least be consistent. We travelled recently with bicycles to Iceland from New Zealand, four people three bikes, all the same airlines, and each bike was charged differently by each airline we travelled on. No consistency, and yet all the airlines used were in the same alliance of companies. Go figure.
Posted By Elizabeth Marshall on December 5, 2011, 12:15 PM
Prices for everything, including airline employee salaries are different, all over the World. There-fore, fees for products and services must also be different.
Posted By Jerry on December 5, 2011, 1:23 PM
Why do low information people constantly attack government? Have they no memory for Enron, Anderson Consulting, Tyco or those Wall Street and financial services institutions who fueled the subprime mortgage fiasco? Sure there are incompetent employees in government, but there are far more when bonuses and profits are God.
I'm in favor of letting the free market work, but I'm against deceptive business practices. Airlines should be forced to display their bundled fare for a basic package of service like checking or taking one bag aboard. Otherwise they are motivated to play games with their actual fare to lure passengers who routinely buy their tickets online now. I would guess that very few know Spirit charges for a carry-on.
If online shoppers can compare apples to apples, they can decide what to pack.
Posted By Hal on December 5, 2011, 1:38 PM
I take 20 to 30 flights per year. I seldom check a bag, though I could at no charge due to elite status. Why should those choosing not to check a bag pay more for a service they will not use?
Posted By lawthomas on December 5, 2011, 2:40 PM
Airlines will learn the hard way that unreasonable fees don't fly when the passengers flock to only those flight are the most devoid of insane nickel and diming fees that make the price of an airflight harder to swallow.
I don't miss flying because of the fees, the security one has to deal with, the lines to wait in, the delays, the fact that anything can happen to your plane's arrival and take-off, miss your connection flight, be stuck for endless hours in an airport, the restrictions on amount, size and weight of luggage, lost or damaged luggage headaches, etc.
I now drive, see the country instead of seeing nothing but clouds at times, and take as much stuff as I want with me even if I have to deal with the cost of the gas pump and the accommodations on the way.
Posted By Morgan on December 5, 2011, 3:19 PM
Airlines will learn the hard way that unreasonable fees don't fly when the passengers flock to only those flight are the most devoid of insane nickel and diming fees that make the price of an airflight harder to swallow.
I don't miss flying because of the fees, the security one has to deal with, the lines to wait in, the delays, the fact that anything can happen to your plane's arrival and take-off, miss your connection flight, be stuck for endless hours in an airport, the restrictions on amount, size and weight of luggage, lost or damaged luggage headaches, etc.
I now drive, see the country instead of seeing nothing but clouds at times, and take as much stuff as I want with me even if I have to deal with the cost of the gas pump and the accommodations on the way.
Posted By Morgan on December 5, 2011, 3:19 PM
Personally, I don't live in North America, never fly within the U.S. and have Gold status with American and their partners. I do have to pay luggage fees in Europe on Easy, Vueling, Wizz,Ryan Baltic etc. Their fares are generally low and they sell one way tickets, so the luggage fees don't hurt too much.What DOES bother me is that an airline will sell a ticket from Point A to Point be for $100.00, round trip. Not bad , you think. The fare with taxes and fees might be $187.62. Since just about everyone must pay these fees and taxes, it would be nice to get the final price from the start. I guss that most people think, what the heck.. Actually, I think that Expedia gives a final price from the start. Fasten your seat and money belts.
Posted By Jerry on December 5, 2011, 5:20 PM
Airlines should be required to allow each passenger EITHER one carry-on OR one checked-in bag free of charge; each individual passenger would choose which type of bag to bring. If someone chooses to bring both a carry-on and a checked-in bag, then that passenger would pay a reasonable fee (maybe $25; the fee would be the same for either type of bag) for having an extra bag. Equating one piece of luggage for an airline passenger with a free bag of popcorn for a movie-goer or a free slice of cheese for a burger-eater (as Toni did [see first post above]) is not a good analogy. The popcorn or slice of cheese is purely a matter of choice, whereas the average, "normal" traveler "needs" to have a bag of basic supplies - such as a change of clothes - with him/her. However, too many passengers go overboard with the amount of luggage they bring; they need to learn to be more realistic and make do with less stuff during their trip than they would at home. (In the process, they would probably even find that they're more comfortable when they're schlepping around less stuff.)
Posted By Beth on December 5, 2011, 6:51 PM
The nanny state grows bigger and bigger if the government is allowed more control into our lives. Make your own choice & your own statement by the way you spend your dollars. Choose companies that you like and give them your business. If you don't like a certain way a business is doing their own business go somewhere else!!! If you want the government to do things for you, you might as well continue to vote for Left's socialist & communist agenda.
Posted By ldogg on December 6, 2011, 3:04 AM
"If you don't like a certain way a business is doing their own business go somewhere else!!!"
Because there are SO many airlines to choose from. It's a little different than deciding which Taco Stand you want to do business with.
The Red Fear is hilarious. Business must be regulated or you have chaos. The greedy will do anything for a nickel. Love Canal, hog farm waste, etc. Cheaper to dump it in somebody else's backyard.
Airlines are a Public Accommodation and are regulated as such. Big Nanny certifies the Flight Crew as well as the aircraft. Or should we trust Kilroy's Flyin' Skool?
1 checked bag - 44lbs, (20kg)
1 carryon with strict size limits.
included in the price of admission.
Posted By silas on December 6, 2011, 11:51 AM
The airlines have been making a crap-load of profit from the checked luggage fees. Take AA. What did they do with all the big bucks they made from checked bags and now, mysteriously, must file bankruptcy????
Posted By cj on December 8, 2011, 8:09 PM
The airlines have been making a crap-load of profit from the checked luggage fees. Take AA. What did they do with all the big bucks they made from checked bags and now, mysteriously, must file bankruptcy????
Posted By cj on December 8, 2011, 8:12 PM
The only fair way to price airfare is to charge the customer on a total per lb. package, to include the travellor's personal weight plus luggage, whether carry on or checked...say a basic allowance of 150 lbs and everything over that to be calculated on extra poundage basis.
Posted By mary on February 20, 2012, 12:18 PM
I hate when the government tries to force private companies to do things with price and all that, however, if I already purchased a ticket I shouldn't have to pay even more just so I can bring some extra clothes on vacation with me. Flying has become very important in today's society. People need to fly to go on vacation, to visit family, and for work. Because of this I agree that the airlines should be required to allow at least 1 free checked and carry on bag. People who say that because we are a capitalist society that it will all work itself out need to realize that very few airlines still fly 1 bag free, if there is no government intervention in this then soon no one will fly a bag for free and then they can just start raising prices, it wouldn't be long after that when 1 checked bag would cost at least $100.
Posted By Rainbow Dash on April 21, 2012, 3:22 AM