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DALLAS—AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, the world’s
largest carrier, says it’s putting more workers at
airports to ease delays when it starts charging
passengers for their first checked bag later this month.
The $15
fee, the first at a major US airline, takes effect June
15. Other steps to ease congestion include erecting a
checkpoint to screen travelers for oversize bags and
dropping a $2 fee for curbside luggage check-in.
American’s moves show the balance between adding fees to
blunt surging fuel costs and not upsetting consumers
stressed by fare increases and delays. Vice president
Mark DuPont said the fee shouldn’t snarl travel.
“The
idea that some or all of this comes at no cost or at no
additional wait time for the customers is a pipe dream,”
said Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co., a Port Washington,
New York-based consultant. “I’m sure they think they’ve
planned for the worst, but sometimes the worst is a
whole lot worse than you imagined.”
The
charge will affect about one in four passengers, Fort
Worth, Texas-based American estimated. Exempt from the
fee are business- and first-class travelers, people
flying outside the US, American’s most-frequent fliers,
active-duty military personnel and coach passengers
paying full fares.
“I’m
very confident it’s going to work well because of the
effort that goes on behind the scenes,” DuPont, a vice
president for airport services planning, said in an
interview. “We’ve been studying this for a long time.
Hopefully, it will be a nonevent for most people.”
American
announced the fee on May 21 along with other steps to
slash costs, including retiring jets and cutting
flights, to counter a 92-percent jump in jet-fuel prices
in the past year. The airline’s on-time arrival rate was
the industry’s worst in March and April, US
Transportation Department data show.
American
won’t say what it’s spending to make sure the fee
doesn’t slow security lines or airplane departures, or
how much revenue the charge will produce.
The
additional checkpoint, run by American employees or
contractors, will come before security screening.
Passengers with too many bags or oversized luggage will
be turned back to pay the fee, heading off congestion at
gates, DuPont said.
“It’s an
extra step in a process that needs to be as streamlined
as possible,” said Chris McGinnis, editor of the Ticket,
a San Francisco-based newsletter for business fliers.
“The airlines have gone to great lengths to take these
steps away in recent years. It’s unfortunate they are
now adding a step.”
American
also will add more employees and signs at gate areas.
Workers will scan the crowd for oversized bags that get
through, and will make sure the airline’s policies are
explained, DuPont said.
In
addition, American will eliminate the fee for curbside
bag check and will accept credit cards only for the
checked-bag fee. Self-serve kiosks for boarding passes
and baggage check-in have been adjusted so that
travelers can pay the fee with a credit card, DuPont
said.
Should
passengers run out of on-board space in overhead bins,
American will check the extra bags at the gate at no
charge, DuPont said.
He said
the fee change shouldn’t affect summer travel because 75
percent of American’s ticket inventory for the period
was sold before the charge takes effect, meaning those
passengers are exempt. (Bloomberg) |
