A legacy airline with outstanding customer service? Give me a time machine, and I’ll show you one.
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luggage
A few days ago, a Transportation Department official bristled when I suggested that its recent fines against airlines were little more than warning shots. It turns out the DOT isn’t done making its point.
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US Airways raised its baggage fees yesterday, setting off what’s sure to be another round of me-toos from its competitors. Luggage fees are almost pure profit, and because there’s almost no pushback from passengers, carriers are getting away with these new surcharges.
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With the advent of baggage fees, there has been a lot of attention on the revenues generated by checked baggage. However, an older set of fees, the change and cancellation fees are racking up even more revenues for airlines.
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Like just about every other airline passenger this summer, Elizabeth Rodgers wants to avoid any unnecessary fees. So on a recent flight from Los Angeles to Boise, Idaho, she tried to carry all of her luggage on the plane. She didn’t get far.
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And it’s the wrong answer. In a recent column about luggage, I suggested that a simple rulemaking by the Transportation Department could compel airlines to include one piece of checked luggage as part of the base fare. I recommended that readers write the DOT to let it know they supported such action. The government was ready with a cookie-cutter response.
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That would be American Airlines, according to the latest government-reported numbers for 2009. The rest of the list may surprise you even more.
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I recently reported on the multi-million dollar effort of US Airways to restore the personal effects of the passengers of the ‘so-called’ Miracle on the Hudson. I got some criticism for comparing the huge outlay of cash and concern to the often surly attention I have received when I had to go to the desk and report that my own belongings had gone missing.
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What’s the most useless ‘essential’ item you have ever packed? You know, the thing you thought you had to have, but it stayed in the suitcase through three countries? In the interest of helping travelers pack lighter and maybe even save some fees, I thought I’d ask around. C’mon, I’ll start.
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