Where has the Overhead Bin?

Southwest Airlines has built an entire ad campaign on the fact that with their passengers, “Bags Fly Free.” Many other airlines charge you if you check any luggage (unless you have special membership status with the airline or fly other than economy) or if you check more than one piece. Result: folks are packing less, carrying on more, freeing up that “belly of baggage” in the bottom of the plane – the cargo hold – for more lucrative air freight. And now, one airline is about to charge you if you actually carry a bag on board the plane that is bigger than a purse or a briefcase/laptop – which should fit neatly under the seat in front of you and suck up what little leg room you get these days – something that needs to go in the overhead bin.

Spirit Airlines, a discount carrier, was born in the mid-west, but specializes in holiday destination travel, particularly around Florida and the Caribbean/Latin America. Effective August 1^st, as Spirit’s Website provides, “Fees apply for carry-on baggage that will not fit in the under seat space. All baggage fees are non-refundable and may be paid in advance or at the airport.” You could be charged $30 or more – one way – in addition to ticket prices that may creep upwards as jet fuel costs continue to rise. Most other airlines have indicated that they are not going to follow in Spirit’s footsteps, and Spirit believes that its fares are still very competitive.

Indeed, Spirit defends its policies with a pretty lame: “‘Nobody brings their package to FedEx or U.P.S. and expects them to ship it for free,’ said Ben Baldanza, the chief executive of Spirit Airlines.” April 7^th New York Times. Yeah, Ben, but your passenger with the carry-on isn’t asking for “free,” since he or she bought a ticket that has, since regular air travel began, included access to the passenger compartment overhead bins. And except for an occasional business day trip, everyone carries enough for a change of clothes and some bathroom supplies, we’re mostly pissed because you are trying to disguise a fare increase into a non-discretionary need to have some carry-on. Hey, on most airlines, we now have to pay for food – or simulated food – on all but what appears to be interstellar travel… and for checked baggage too. Yeah, Spirit does that as well: $19 bucks if you pay for one bag online ($25 at the airport), $25 for a second bag and $100 for a third – each way.

For airlines that charge baggage fees, the numbers look really good – from a shareholder’s perspective: “The total in bag fees collected by the airlines has skyrocketed since they were first imposed. According to the Transportation Department, the fees rose from $464 million in 2007 to nearly $2 billion in just the first nine months of last year… Joseph Pascarella, who has worked as a baggage handler in Tampa, Fla., for 37 years, said he had noticed the difference. ‘Before the bag fees, we would handle an average 250 bags on a flight. Now it’s closer to 150 to 175. People are also thinking twice about taking that extra bag.’” With less luggage, airlines are losing fewer bags, loading and unloading the cargo hold is faster (often with fewer baggage handlers, another cost savings) and fewer airline employees are getting injured from heavy suitcases.

For passengers, that’s nice, and we do appreciate the industry group SITA’s report that there has been a 24% reduction globally in baggage “mishandling,” but frankly, charging for checked bags has pushed more stuff very uncomfortably into the passenger compartment: “In the United States, the most visible consequence of baggage fees has been the increase in more, and heavier, items in the passenger cabin, the very behavior that prompted Spirit’s new fee for carry-on policy. A survey by the Association of Flight Attendants found ‘excess amounts of oversized carry-on items’ were causing flight attendants to be injured. Eighty percent of the flight attendants reported muscle pulls and sprains. Thirty-five percent said they were hit by falling bags…

“One thing baggage fees were expected to do but have not done is to reduce the turnaround time at the gate. With so many passengers trying to bring everything they need for a trip into the passenger cabin, departures are often delayed to deal with the problem of trying to squeeze too many bags into too little space… ‘Almost every flight, the amount of luggage people try to carry on doesn’t fit,’ Mr. Pascarella, the baggage handler, said. ‘It’s at least 10 to 20 bags per flight.’ … In 2005, the average weight of passengers and their luggage was revised upward to more accurately reflect the larger girth of travelers and their wider array of travel gear.” The Times.

Think that the baggage stuff is horrible? Irish-based carrier Ryanair has one possibility that you probably never considered: “Ryanair is considering charging passengers £1 ($1.40) to use the lavatory on its flights, according to chief executive Michael O’Leary…. The Dublin-based airline has gained a reputation for its high booking fees and ancillary charges… The carrier charges £30 to check in a bag, £10 to pay for flights with a debit or credit card (excluding Visa Electron), £60 to check in sports or music equipment, £15 for each kilo of excess baggage, £50 to change a flight and £100 to change the name on a ticket.” Feb. 27^th Telegraph.co.uk. They’re even thinking of reducing the number of bathrooms to add more seats! I guess we Yanks still have a lot to learn from the European continent… or is that in-continent?

Okay, we know these trends go in cycles, and if air travel drops precipitously – perhaps because an inflating dollar might not always do that well against other currencies, which in turn is a deterrent to travel – and the cost of fuel doesn’t kill the industry altogether, I suspect we’ll see some discounts and new travel policies along the way. Or… air travel can go back to its roots and return being a playground only for business travelers and the rich.

I’m Peter Dekom, and that’s the plane truth!