Checked bag fees may be one of the most widely hated extras among air travelers but they have been instrumental in reducing departure delays, according to a new study published in the journal Management Science.
Academics from the Universities of North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas and Eastern Michigan crunched the numbers from more than nine million flights before and after the dreaded checked bag fees became ubiquitous.
It also took into account other variables which impact on-time performance such as weather, the age of aircraft and the number of passengers on each flight.
The study looked at flights between May 2007 and May 2009, when many of the major irlines began implementing the fees.
The study authors found the checked bag fee acts as a sufficient deterrent with less bags being handled overall.
It said when carriers began charging for first check bags, delays fell by an average of two minutes per flight.
"Our study provides an empirical support that the checked baggage fee policies were associated with an improvement in a key airline performance metric, on-time departure performance," the study said.
Major airlines like United, Delta Air Lines, and American charge $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second checked bag, while Southwest Airlines is the sole holdout, with its ‘bags fly free’ brand message.
Despite the opportunity to potentially improve on-time performance and rake in millions through bag fees, Southwest is in no mood to change its policy anytime soon.
"We don’t view checked bags as a significant detractor from our overall on-time performance when weighed against the baggage convenience we offer our customers," a statement by Steve Hozdulick, Southwest’s managing director of operational performance said.
