Travel American, Pay Fees for Checked Luggage

Sky-high fuel prices have, in recent times, been the bane of the airlines industry, prompting different carriers to look at alternative measures to run their operations without losing out to the price explosion. Now, American Airlines is set to become the first major airline company in the U.S. to charge passengers for checking in luggage.

The largest airline in the United States, American Airlines, has now announced that it would be charging a fee of $15 to economy-class passengers in the domestic sector for the first piece of luggage they check. The fee, to be applicable both ways, is set to come into effect from June 15.

Charging the fee for checked luggage is one of the options American Airlines is adopting. Other strategies include reducing the number of flights in the domestic sector and trimming the size of its work force. There were other areas that American said it was targeting for fee revisions, including help for reservation and also extra large luggage.

As of Wednesday, other airlines such as Delta, competitors to American, and Alaska Airlines, based out of Seattle issued statements to the effect that they would not be implementing the checked luggage fee.

However, insiders from the industry and also analysts think that is not going to be the case and that sooner or later other airlines would also jump onto the same bandwagon.

The rising prices of fuel have hit the airlines at different levels. One area it has had a definite impact is popularity. With airlines making passengers pay more towards tickets and related services and meet the rising fuel prices, the popularity of the different airlines has hit new lows.

A survey conducted by the University of Michigan, whose results were made public last week, said airlines had received the worst markings from customers since 2001. This is also the third year in a row that the industry has seen its ratings plummet. The results were bad particularly for United Airlines and US Airways Group Inc., two companies looking to merge into a single entity.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index released by the University of Michigan saw United Airlines at the bottom of the pile, with US Airways just one slot ahead in second last. Things looked bright for Southwest Airlines Co. as it ended ahead of its competition in terms of passenger satisfaction for the 15th straight year.