The nation’s airlines, faced with possibly higher fuel costs and failed attempts to raise air fares, are looking for a predictable profit source: expect even more add-ons.
“Baggage fees are here to stay and they are only going to grow in importance for carriers,” said Jay Sorensen, who operates IdeaWorks, an airline consulting firm.
Sorensen said he also expects airlines to “tweak” baggage fees, with rates possibly being charged based on distance traveled.
Although consumers obviously haven’t been thrilled with the added charges, they haven’t been vocal in their opposition to the charges, giving airlines no motivation to reduce or eliminate the charges, Sorensen told the Business Journal of Milwaukee.
“There was a lack of consumer backlash,” he said. “Consumers begrudgingly accepted their fate.”
Airline baggage fee collections rose to $739.8 million in the third quarter of 2009, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The figure represented an increase of 111 percent over the same period in 2008, when baggage fees generated $350.1 million in revenue.
Airlines consider baggage fees the “holy grail of revenue treasure,” a report issued by IdeaWorks said.
The lone holdout on baggage fees has been Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, whose “bags fly free” advertisements have been running for months. The campaign “virtually assures (Southwest) will remain on the sidelines for some time,” according to the IdeaWorks report.
By David Wilkening
