Scott Diamond’s work involves flying back and forth from Atlanta to Puerto Rico. Lately, one of the most wearying parts of his job has been the boarding process at the airport.
Now that airlines charge fees for checked baggage, many travelers try to go carry-on only to bypass the extra cost. As boarding time approaches they anxiously crowd toward the jetway, then lug overstuffed bags down the aircraft aisle and scramble for space to stow them.
“Everyone’s trying to cram their bags into the overhead bins,” said Diamond, an international buyer who lives in Atlanta. “So much time is wasted where everyone’s trying to figure out how to find two inches of space to put their baggage.”
The scene he describes is one of the unintended consequences of the baggage fees, which became the norm in 2008 and since then have risen to $20 on AirTran Airways and at least $23 on Delta Air Lines, Atlanta’s largest carriers. And that’s just one-way for the first checked bag. For a family on vacation, baggage fees can quickly climb into three figures.
The airlines are just trying to bring in extra revenue, and they say fees for certain services hold down base fares. But now, the ripple effects of baggage fees are extending not only into the cabin, where passengers and flight crews face an added layer of stress, but even into courtrooms and Congress.
A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Seattle last month contests decisions by Delta and United Airlines to not consistently refund baggage fees after losing bags. A similar lawsuit in New Hampshire court was settled after United found the bag.
Delta and AirTran are also battling a suit that contends they colluded to charge baggage fees.
In the Seattle lawsuit, “All we’re saying is if your bag doesn’t arrive with you, you ought to get the fee back,” said David Ongaro, the attorney for plaintiff Tony Schultz, a passenger who got separated from his baggage on a Delta flight.
Delta has no blanket policy for such situations, but handles refund decisions “on a case by case basis,” spokeswoman Susan Elliott said. “(We) look at the passenger’s overall travel experience and their circumstances.”
Passengers reported 165,706 instances of mishandled baggage on Delta in the first half of 2010, according to federal data, placing it 9th out of 18 carriers. In the first quarter of the year, Delta collected $217.8 million in baggage fees.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Transportation is taking public comments on proposed rules that would require airlines to improve disclosure of baggage fees to passengers, travel agencies and online travel agencies.
A bill in Congress also seeks to require baggage fee disclosures, and another bill, backed by a flight attendants union, seeks to limit the size of carry-ons.
There’s little sign the industry will retreat. A la carte fees have taken hold not only with baggage but with meals and other amenities. American Airlines recently announced it will charge extra for the first few rows of coach seats, which would also come with early boarding privileges to ensure carry-on space. Last month Spirit Airlines, a tiny carrier geared toward leisure fliers, started charging as much as $45 for a carry-on, in addition to checked baggage fees.
AirTran, which boosted its checked baggage fee to $20 last week, said that will help offset higher fuel costs. Spokesman Christopher White said AirTran is in a “relatively good position” to handle more carry-ons because overhead bins on most of its planes are relatively large.
Other industries are adjusting to baggage fees. Atlanta-based Intercontinental Hotels Group, parent of Holiday Inn, now offers a checked bag reimbursement for travelers who book two weekend nights in a row through the end of the year.
UPS Store, a division of Sandy Springs-based UPS, earlier this year debuted a “luggage box” that can be shipped ahead to meet you at the destination. Other companies like Luggage Forward specialize in luggage shipping, from your house to your hotel, for example. With prices starting at $69, what once was a luxury service is now competitive in some situations.
Fees make it harder for corporate travel departments to plan, according to a Business Travel Coalition survey.
“Determining the actual cost of transportation is now so difficult that we cannot help departments prepare travel budgets for the following year,” one respondent said, according to the coalition’s report.
Still, it’s at the airport and in the cabin where the effect of baggage fees is most acute.
Many travelers have changed packing strategies, either putting more in carry-ons or sharing large suitcases to avoid fees for additional bags. In the latter case, they have to be careful about weight: most airlines charge a different fee for any single bag weighing more than 50 pounds.
Some infrequent travelers are surprised by fees at the airport, which can send stress levels soaring and slow the baggage check line as agents explain, said Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer Travel Alliance.
Leocha believes airlines should be more upfront about the fees during booking, especially now that fees can cost close to $50 round-trip for the first checked bag.
Gate agents must monitor bags in the waiting area to avoid an overflow on the plane. Some passengers jump the line to try to claim overhead space. Meanwhile, flight attendants are called on to help load bags into overhead bins, finding crannies for small bags, calming frustrated passengers and telling some their bag will have to be “gate-checked” when bins fill up. There’s no charge for that.
Elliott, the Delta spokeswoman, said flight attendants’ first priority remains safety, followed by offering “a quality travel experience. ... If there is an issue with overhead bin space, the flight attendant would assist those passengers in managing that.”
Janette Rook, head of the union representing flight attendants from Northwest who now work for Delta, said the heavy volume of carry-ons contributes to confusion and delay.
“Increasingly we see the frustration escalate to verbal and even physical abuse of flight attendants,” Rook said. The union supports legislation to set a universal size limit for carry-ons.
More than 80 percent of attendants who responded to a union survey said they had pulled or strained muscles while lifting or stowing carry-ons, but they are hesitant to report the injuries and risk losing work time and income, Rook said.
“Baggage is an issue,” Delta flight attendant Jacqueline Richards said. “If the flight is full, I guarantee you bags are going to be checked” at the gate. She said even though flight attendants tell passengers to put smaller items underneath the seat in front of them, “people don’t listen, people don’t care.”
Phil Bush, who travels frequently on Delta for his consulting job at an Alpharetta firm, said he thinks baggage issues are contributing to air rage.
“Because people don’t want to pay checked bag fees, they’re dragging on everything except dead bodies. ... You have to fight for overhead space.”
Even if it doesn’t come to that, said Diamond, “There’s nothing worse than getting on the plane and not finding a place for your carry-on.”
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