The airlines should raise the airfares period. No more hiddens fees (15.00 for one bag, 25.00 for two bags, 3.00 fee for the skycap checking your bag and their tip for ensuring that it is tagged properly). Raise the airfare. If you can not afford it, take the train, bus or drive.
The main thing the airlines SHOULD NOT do is start charging ala carte. I want to know what I am paying and what I am getting for the whole trip before I take the trip. I do not want any surprises when I get to the airport for departure, at my destination, or on my return trip. What the airlines are doing now is wrong and I will not be traveling by plane until they fix their problems and manage their business appropriately.
Deregulation has NOTHING to do with the trouble the airlines are facing today. Run a sound business or suffer the consequences of financial irresponsibility.
Fuel costs are rising, as are operational costs, and employee salaries and benefits. Remember, these senior captains are making in excess of $150,000 and most if not all are employed at the big national carriers (american, united, delta, etc).
They can either pass the rising costs onto consumers and stay afloat, or they can continue in cutthroat price competition bleed money. It is either sink or swim. It is the AIRLINES choice.
If customers want the absolute lowest price, then by all means, give it to them. Those that can survive will, and those that can’t won’t.
Why don’t the airlines do a better job of hedging their fuel costs by using the financial markets (e.g. the commodities futures markets)?? It has been a long established practice in agriculture and manufacturing to hedge producer costs in these financial markets…. so why don’t the airlines do a better job in using them? It didn’t take a genious to see that prices for oil and fuel were beginning to rise over the last several years.
Frank Koconis is right, airlines could consider going back to the 1920s and weigh all the passengers. It might make Amercians eat less and lose weight. Airlines should charge what the traffic will bear until we get equalibrium in the market. American, US Airways and United should be allowed to go out of business. Let Southwest and Continental carry most passengers as they do it the best.
I’m sick and tired of the American public feeling that they are entitled to cheap air travel. I still find it amazing that my body and luggage are transported safely across the country and back for only $.15 per mile (figuring a $700 round-trip ticket). I say double the rates to push those who can’t afford the increase off the flights. The bottom line is too many people fly — period. The right to have cheap air fares is not in the Constitution. Instead, make your government invest in trains like they should and use air travel for only overseas or cross-country flights.
raising fares is the best thing that could happen. The current air travel situation is a bloated mess. far too many people are traveling for no reason at all, and in the process, burning extraordinary amounts of fuel and producing substantial pollution. I’m hoping fares increase to the point where casual air travel stops entirely. In the 60’s air travel was an exotic sport where people dressed in dignity and went to far away exciting places. Now it is just an airport full of rude people waddling around in flip flops going nowhere for no reason.
Given the painful givebacks and/or loss of jobs of hundreds of thousands of employees in commercial aviation in this country, trying to find more than a handful who optimistically view this industry is a challenge. Remember the railroads, American steel industry, etc? The insistance on “cheap” comes at a price, usually someone’s job, or standard of living. Regardless of the tone here, price is KING. I hear American Airlines alone is losing 3 million dollars a day right now. Are you all really willing to make up the difference? And that is before restoring lost wages and benefits to all those workers.
I just returned from an international trip with American Airlines and was absolutely WOWWED by the service and professionalism! (And to think they are expected to provide service with a smile while personally having about 30% less buying power than they did 5 years ago.) Sure it would be great to get it all at Wal Mart prices, but that’s not realistic either. Go ahead and try it, cut 30% out of your income and keep serving with a smile.
Hidden fees and such,well It is a way to generate revenue and once the word gets out ( Like it is here) then the flying public will be educated and then the airlines will have to find another way to increase revenue. Just like any other business,add-on cost more,A/C for a car,Stereos etc. Nice flooring for a home and that nice view at a from the hotel room. I think we are entering into a new cost of living structure with costs being driven up by fuel.We are being dragged along kicking and screaming! Maybe if we used our heads and used alternative fuels or power ( Like and electric car remember the GM EV-2?) then we could counter the fule costs. Take away the need and the price will drop.
Rick.
Airline should list the fuel charge. (period) Base on the base fare (220 pound person, one bag 45 pounds.
All these extra’s hide the real cost!
Paul, I think you got this one wrong. Since 2001, airlines have been raising fares and adding surcharges. Even before the current rise in fuel prices. Companies like Southwest, however, continue to post profits, get high marks for customer service, and add flights. How is this possible since they charge far less than the big carriers. An example, I wanted to travel from Nashville to New Orleans and checked some prices. Delta wanted over $400 one way, Southwest only $109.
How is Southwest able to make money? They pack the planes. I have made lots of flights and never saw an empty seat on a Southwest plane. When I did fly other carriers (Southwest doesn’t go everywhere I do), the planes were half empty. Rather than focusing on taking as muahc money as possible from a shrinking pool of customers, the airlines should focus on filling the planes and cutting some costs (how about executive salaries for a start).
Let me sum it up this way, You can make a million dollars by taking a dollar from a million people or taking a million dollars from one person, what do you think will work best?
As more and more airlines will be consolidating, and foreign carriers are pushing hard for more US rights the problem will fix itself. Airfares will rise dramatically. In the US we have a sense of entitlement. It is the ME syndrome and it is going to backfire. Instead of whining you should be supporting your US carriers, instead of bringing them down. It will only hurt US the consumers in the end. As far as the employees,for the most part they give excellent service, despite being overworked trying to make ends meet after subsidizing your airfares. So go ahead and whine, its going to catch up soon.
A reasonable price structure, based on the cost of travel would help the industry. Why is it that if I drive 50 miles to another airport, and then connect through my local airport to another destination the flight is cheaper? Ex: A flight from O’Hare in Chicago to Florida costs $350. If I drive to Milwaukee, get on a flight to Chicago, and then take the exact same flight I wanted to take to Florida it only cost $250? This is crazy. It is not only like this in Chicago, I know this happens in the Charlotte/Greensboro NC market as well.
Fix the prices to match the costs plus some profit, just like every other industry, so you don’t have to come running to the American Taxpayer for another multi-million dollar bailout.
Airlines have a right to earn a profit, which is the total revenue minus costs.
Travelers have a right to choose the airline they travel. Each person has the right to their own criteria for making decisions.
Airlines must raise prices to maintain a fair profit margin. (Are you listening oil companies? Fair!!)
In this person’s humble opinion, what the airlines must do (but I know they won’t) is let people compare apples to apples.
Just as many people advocate a flat tax, I believe airlines should charge for an all inclusive ticket (one price – one trip (round trip or one way)).
Otherwise where will it stop, American Airlines? How about pay toilets?
After all, I can hold it for most flights?? Why should I pay for the fuel, cost of carrying, and maintaining the toilet for my flight?
Why? Think about it. Many businesses today won’t let you use their bathrooms and others charge you, so why should the airlines be any different?
Why should there be any amenities on an airplane ride? Well, they started out because flights (A) were too so long and (B) were an adventure, worthy of your Sunday best.
Today planes are faster, but amenities are just as necessary after waiting through all the lines and indignities one goes through when traveling by air.
One simply wants to sit down, relax, and take it easy to their destination.
Actually, I wonder if the new air rage we’re seeing might be related to the additional events one must go through when flying. Flying used to be an adventure best savored now it is an adventure worthy of …. fill in the blank yourself.
As an airline captain who is on his 5th airline (I’ve endured two airline failures and a pair of bankruptcies after spending 6 years flying for the military), I certainly feel compelled to add a few commments.
First, Southwest is a great airline, but don’t lose sight of the fact that a significant part of the reason that they’ve been able make money and keep fares low over the last several years is because of fuel hedges that have worked wonders. In other words, several years ago, Southwest bet that fuel prices would go up significantly and it turned out to be a great gamble. Other airlines must meet their rock bottom fares and operate without the same fuel hedges.
Second, no matter what your readers say, as customers, they are extremely price sensitive. As airlines raise fares by just a few dollars, bookings drop off. The average customer looks to pay as little as possible when travelling and doesn’t really distinguish between airlines.
Finally, it may make seem like the nickle and dime treatment, but in my opinion, paying for bags makes sense. The airplane costs more to operate as airplane weight goes up. If you want to really make it fair, each passenger should stand on a scale with his/her luggage and be charged accordingly. The petite young woman with a purse goes for half of the fare of a Summo Wrestler with 3 checked bags.
U.S. airlines must combine with foreign owned and operated airlines to continue to remain in business, and do so profitably. It would also go a long way to improving quality of service. The “open skies” trans-Atlantic agreement is merely one step in global competition among airlines.
Dom from Newark New Jersey. The problem as I see it is the the executives keep taking from the employees and the customer putting the profit in their pockets. This is a self destruct plan by design. They are taking from the money makers (ie employee and customer) great for the short term but their is no long time plan to keep the money rolling in. They keep telling people that the problem is the employee keep holding the company hostage by wanting an more money and that is why we have poor customer service. The reality is the the less the company gives the more the greedy execsutives can put in their pockets. To some it all up as the company sees it, its not that the employees deserve a fair wage its how much they can take for themselves.
As a 150 lb person, I agree that if the airlines want to claim it is all about weight and fuel then they should be charging in part by the total weight brought on board – including the weight of the passenger. There is still a fixed per-passenger part for crew, maintenance etc, so it would be something like $100 plus $.50 a lb*mile or something.
WRT these individual fees and nickle and diming, “The Mythical Man-Month” reminds us Adde parvum parvo magnus acervus erit or Add little to little and there will be a big pile. And it will be a big stinking pile.
Seems to me that a suitable way, short of not flying in the first place, to “protest” nickle and diming would be to respond in kind – paying the baggage check fees in nickles and dimes.
This is all so ridiculous because its obvious that the airline leaders have no idea how to run a business. New leadership is needed across the board and a better business model on current trends needs to be identified and adapted.
Really what is the difference between the “discount” carrier and the “full” service carrier? NOTHING. It takes me from point A to point B with my luggage in tow.
That being said, as a business traveler and for my own personal needs, I don’t fly American, United, Delta or Northwest anyway so they can raise their fares all they want. I avoid these carriers at all costs and if the choice is fly American or don’t travel well let’s just say that 9 times out of 10 I don’t travel. Love Continental, give me JetBlue, and Southwest any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Even if I can afford to pay more for “full” service, I just won’t do it – better use of my money than that.
By the way, read Brian from Denver’s blog – he is accurate as well.
Again, if it was as easy as just raising prices, then the industry would have done it – and by the way, there is something called anti-trust – which means airlines cannot just all agree to raise prices and cut capacity/supply – they have to make those decisions individually and hope others follow – and if they don’t as Brian implied, then you lose market share and your loses will actually even be worse.
Everyone believes just raising fares is the solution – including employees. Does everyone think that the executives want to lose money and therefore have not tried to raise fares? The problem is the industry was deregulated from a pricing perspective – thus very competitive and difficult to influence pricing industry wide – but the government has let it be semi-regulated from a competitive and thus capacity standpoint. Yes, deregulated pricing, semi-regulated competition and thus capacity – eg supply. Thus, too many seats, chasing the same customers with high fixed costs leads to ruinous pricing. The government needs to get out of the way and let the market dictate winners/losers and capacity – pricing then will moderate to a sustainable industry model and unfortuantely that menas paying the same price for ten years will no longer be available.
well, for all you people who do not under stand the Airline’s like the moron that wrote this Story….
I work for the Airlines as a Aircraft Mechanic 20 plus years,First I’am so sick of you people downing the Airlines if weren’t for people like me,you would have to drive or take a bus to go coast too coast.
Second, they are passing the cost of doing business on to the public just like everybody else is now days.
to off set the high cost of fuel and frankly they should have done it a long time ago,they just waited too long to do this now
And,last the problem is now that the public is so use to cheap fares that ever time the tickets go up people cry like little baby’s sorry but thats the cost of doing business these days…
enclosing if you want to fly then you will pay the price of the ticket and charges that are added on…..
“like the old saying go’s” PUT UP OR..SHUT UP..
The older airlines cannot make a profit because of their legacy costs. They have bloated pilot payrolls, they have bloated employee benefits, and they have bloated management salaries. That’s why some of them will go out of business, the same way that Bethlehem Steel went out of business because of legacy costs.
The other problem that the other major airlines have is customer service. Last year, United Airlines stranded my wife and her tour group in Dulles overnight. It was the airlines fault, but they gave no help to the passengers, who had to sit or sleep all night in the terminal.
Southwest is the gold standard of the industry. Their people always smile, they always keep you informed, and they are always ready to help you. All of this and they have the lowest pay structure in the industry, so they can make money even in these trying times. Let the pilots at Delta that demand $300,000 a year go and see how long it takes for them to realize that $150,000 (the top pilot salary at Southwest) isn’t so bad after all.
There is another reason that airlines aren’t able to make money. They are paying their top executives a little too much. Last year Richard Anderson worked as CEO for 4 months and earned about 11 million dollars and will probably make much more this year. The year before that when Delta was in bankruptcy the CEO Gerald Grinsteen did not take any salary.
And right now with the Delta/Northwest merger on the table Doug Steenland, current NW CEO will be paid 8.5 million if he stays on through the end of the merger. But if he left now he would only get 2 million, so why not keep your friend on so he can make an extra 6.5 million dollars for not doing much. Unless you count trying to figure out ways to take more money from the employees of the Delta or get rid of them through contracting out customer service. That will be their plan.
But I guess corprate greed won’t end anytime soon so I guess they will just have to find some other way to line their pockets.
This sounds like a good idea, but the flying public complain about paying higher fares. I am an airline employee that worked in reservations for several years. I can’t count how many people complained about higher fares. They would even gripe about increases that were between $5 and $10. And even when working premium travelers they had problems with the higher fares. About the only ones that didn’t worry about fares were people traveling on the government.
I have had to take more than a 20% paycut plus other benefits just to keep us in business. I would like to see passengers actually pay fares that would cover the expense of flying but I don’t think they will.
And what about the taxes that airlines pay on the tickets. You may pay the same price as 20 years ago but the airlines are actually getting a smaller percentage of the price. Airlines are now the most heavily taxed industry in the nation with about 60% of the cost of the ticket going to the government. Perhaps raising the cost of tickets and a more fair taxing would help.
About 60% of the price you pay for an airline ticket goes to taxes and the airlines never see a penny of it. Airlines are now the most heavily taxed industry in this country. We need to not only raise ticket prices we also need to have more equitable taxes charged by the government. So even though you may be paying the same amount for airplane tickets that you did 20 years ago the airlines actually are getting a smaller cut of the price that they charge the consumer.
I think air travel is going back to the more luxury mode of travel. No more big price wars as fairs will rise to essentially be business and 1st class. The number of flights will drop and coach will barely exist and those will be jam packed with no “extras.”
At the same time it will be a huge opportunity for major investment in rail travel, especially for regional routes; true express for NY-DC (no stops); NY-Chicago (1 stop/state);NY-LA (4 or 5 stops); But will Amtrak or any other entity be there to take advantage? Certainly not! Train travel is a viable mode of travel across the globe except for the US. Makes no sense.
The airline industry is the only industry that increases fares and nickels & dimes its customers while providing horrible service. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the best, I give the airline industry a 10.
When I do travel, I travel during the winter when air fare & hotel rooms are cheap & whenever I can I utilize my frequent flyer miles. Went to Hawaii on American Airlines in January, 2008 utilizing frequent flyer miles, cost me $10 & sat in the business class.
Everyone keeps pointing to Southwest saying, “it’s the cheapest, and consumers want cheap.” Yet, Southwest ALSO has the best customer service. I’ve never been treated better, or had a better time flying than I have on Southwest. So, cheap tickets DOES NOT mean a frustrating flying experience.
I would like to open the one “can of worms” that everyone is afraid to talk about…
As we all know, the airlines single biggest expense is fuel cost. And, of course, fuel consumption is directly related to the weight of whatever the planes are carrying- i.e., passengers, baggage and possibly cargo.
So, the airlines’ goal must be either to reduce the weight they carry, or charge more for carrying it. The new checked-bag charge does both, of course . Never mind that everyone hates it.
However, consider this: Under this new policy, a 150-pound woman checking a 30-pound bag will pay $15 for that. However, I am a 220-pound man; if I fly and do NOT check a bag, I don’t pay the extra fee.
How, which of the two of us costs the airline more, in fuel? Easy- I do, because my body weighs more than the womans body plus her bag.
So that’s what the airlines REALLY ought to do: charge everybody for the total weight they bring onto the plane (including their bodies and all baggage).
That would be the most fair.
Airlines, I DARE you to try that!
Continuously adding fees that aggravate the customer is not the way to run a business. The airlines, like any company are in business to make money. They should charge a price for their tickets that allows them to be profitable and service the flying public. They need to put back the service in customer service. Additionally, they should charge a fuel surcharge that would vary with the price of fuel. FedEx and UPS do just that, and the public accepts that, because the public is very aware of how fuel costs affect businesses. If fuel were a surcharge and taken out of the “ticket price” airlines could compete on price and service.
I’m also in favor of airlines passing operating costs to customers. Every other business does so I don’t have a problem with this. But it looks like I’m among the minority who’d rather have fees for optional services/conveniences than higher flat rate. Why should I pay the same when I travel without any checked luggage? I don’t require baggage handling so why charge me for it. Flat fare encourages over-consumption. Hey sure I’ll eat that snack even if I don’t need it. After all I already paid for it in my flat fare. With optional extra charges, you decide what you want to pay for and not end up forced to pay for what others want. If you use these extra services, you pay for them. Simple. You can splurge or save depending on your budget and how important various offerings are. Isn’t it better than a one-size-fits-all model with fixed rate?
Gee What an Idea! Raise Ticket Prices.
Never really worked. I have been in the industry for 30 years. Here is the issue.
1. Deregulation allowed for competition and no more government set pricing. Thus compete on price. When older airlines whose employee costs are higher as well as other fixed costs, they can not be cut easily. Instead it is easier for someone to start a new airline instead of buy an existing one and start it with the low costs and low benefits. If the costs get out of hand close the airline down and start another. Legacy carriers have had to cut costs and still can not match get them to levels such as Southwest. What happens are career employees lose their pensions, pay, benefits and now can’t aford to ever retire. So competion is go only for passengers who want low fares and for no one else.
2. Because of # 1 above, fares are very difficult to raise prior to the fuel cost crisis. How could you raise a fare when there is immediately a low cost carrier ready to step into that market or is already in that market and will not raise their’s because they want to sell at a better price to get passengers. thus the higher cost carrier can’t raise fares as they will lose traffic and market share to low cost carriers. This is why in the past you see some carriers try, but when all don’t match they recind the inscreas.
The option is to lose passengers and money quickly by raiseing fares and loseing share or hold of raiseing fares and slowly bleed to death.
The bottom line is you can’t have a happy airline industry in the USA without some sort of price regulation unless you are willing to churn through airlines every few years when they go out of business.
Think about this legacy airlines were cutting capacity before fueld went over $100 a barrel. Yet low cost carriers kept expanding and increaseing capacity. All that does is change the market share and slowly the legacy carrier gives up all it’s traffic ans shuts down.
Passengers refuse to pay higher fares for service when low cost carriers charge less and EVERYONE wants a low price. No one cares if a carrier go bankrupt or people lose jobs they just want low fares.
So PLEASE do not print the crap that if you give better server they will pay higher fares. That is simple BS and the opinion of someone who really knows nothing about the industry
Personally I wish the airline would just use good old fashion business sense. Stop cutting services, nickel and dimming passengers and raise the prices, add back the services and benefits and turn a profit. 10 years ago it cost 350 – 500 buck to fly from PA to AZ, now… it costs 350-500 bucks to fly from AZ to PA, but now I can only take 1 carry on so small that I might get three days of clothes toiletries and such in it and a purse, I have to wait longer at the airport and the service from start to finish sucks. I would rather pay 500-800 bucks for better service, the ability to bring what I want in luggage, food that is edible on the plane, and just better overall services.
It’s simple, stop charging the same or more and taking away services and charges more and gives back the services. People will pay more if they feel they get more, even if they aren’t getting anything but a smile and a friendly face rather then a haggard overworked representative at the ticket counter.
I disagree with the post about bad service from Southwest Airlines – I don’t want airline food or a movie I’m not interested in. I want a flight that is safe, gets me where I want to go on time and without a hassle from grouchy gate attendants. I’ve never had a bad experience with Southwest but I have with Continental (rude, disinterested), American (late, dirty), United (smaller plane than stated, rerouted and several hours late). I could go on but it is all the same. I always fly with Southwest if I can. I usually feel the fares are reasonable and if I need to change I don’t pay more than the original fare for it!
Today, airfares with 21 days advanced purchase is about the same as it was 20 years ago. Fairs are likely unrealistically low but who’s fault is that? The airlines. If prices today reflected inflation over the past 20 years, there would be fewer people flying, better service, greatly improved on-time performance and profitable carriers inspite of $130/bbl oil.
Southwest is inexpensive because they have hedge their fuel cost at $50 a barrel. That fuel hedge will be gone at the end of this year and you will see Southwest in the same game as the other airlines.
The constant nickel and dime fees airlines are charging, while providing less service is only part of the problem. The whole experience of air travel, beginning with arriving at the airport to driving away at the destination is a model of bad customer service by a monopolized industry. Full parking lots, long wait at checking, longer wait at “security”, crowded concourse, packed gate waiting areas, overpriced everything, little or no service on most flights, uncomfortable seats that get smaller and closer together with each passing generation of aircraft and seldom even a smile or a thank you from anyone along the way. Prices do need to go up to cover expenses and make viable businesses, get back to the one fair for the transportation SERVICE, not just the seat to ride in and everything else costs extra. Air travel use to be plesant (for those of us old enough to remember), make it enjoyable again, and higher fairs will be justified. Airlines can help, unfortunatly there needs to be changes in the entire system (many outside the control of the airlines) to make traveling via air plesant and worth the extra prices
As so many others have expressed, it’s simple reality. Ya can’t sell a widget for less than it costs to make it and stay in business for very long. I’ve said this for years, ask a few Flight Attendants who I have had this discussion with.
OK, so to produce income, you have 3 options, increase revenue without increasing expenses, decrease expenses on existent revenue, or a combination of both. Very simple in my financial mind. Airline execs just don’t get that simple philosophy. Of course at the cost of their employees, they have cut some operating costs. But those employees are the ones actually giving the customer service, and they need to survive in this economic climate as well and provide for their families!
I’m all for raising fares instead of the nickel and dime approach, but I also expect service to be raised as well. It is indeed about value, or the perceived value of where/how I spend my money. Wake up airline executives, quit taking your unearned bonuses at the cost of your employees, and give me, the consumer, something in fair value for what I expect to pay!
I’ll close with my favorite statement: “If you don’t want to pay what it really costs to get you from point A to point B, then stay home!” It will make my flights more pleasurable.
With Southwest as the exception, the major airlines are run by inept, arrogant managers. Fuel costs are the most recent scapegoat, but the truth is they have no real motivation to run their business proactively because they know the government will bail them out if they end up in the ditch.
My wife works for a Fortune 500 distribution company that depends heavily on fuel in its operations. Yet, they have been profitable without passing along any fuel surchargesto customers due to competent, responsible management practices.
It is irresponsible for airlines (again, except Southwest) not to hedge the largest cost input they face in their operations. But the truth is, it probably wouldn’t matter if they did, they would find some other way to muck it up.
So is American going to have somebody at the end of the jetway to charge you the $15 when your bag wont fit in the overhead bin because they are all full?
I don’t know how many of you fly international, but there is just no room for comparison between domestic and international service. For example, most most of the flights to Europe include two complementary meals and an unlimited number of free beverages! And they dont cost more than domestic flights, relative to miles covered.
Someone still wondering why the vast majority of international flights are operated by foreign airlines?
Charging for bags is only going to exacerbate the already dreadful carry on baggage problem. Pay attention on your next flight to how many carry on bags will fit in that little aluminum frame you see at the ticket counter. Probably not more than 20%. I have seen flight attendants make people take small bags, that meet the carry on criteria, out of the overhead and put them under their seats so people can put their monster bags, that don’t, in the overhead. I have never understood how a company like almost all airlines, could have any success when all their customers hate them!
It is discriminatory to those who have health problems. I have a bad disk in my back and cannot drag my bag through multiple airports. I always check my bag. They should ban carryon larger than a briefcase or purse.
Brendan
Baton Rouge
The airline executives are bad business people. Even before the high price of oil they were not able to make money on full plane. The had a work force that work for 10% of the base sale, now that work force gets paid nothing by the airlines. They still cannot make money. Some of the airlines absord some that taxes on ticket just so they have the lowest fares, this has cost them millions of dollars. The airlines are always put ting the blame on someone or something.
American Airlines on TV (CNBC Special)said the a frequent flyer ticket only cost them $10.00. If only cost $10.00 for someone to sit on the plane for free, how do they not make money on the tickets that people pay for? The are just bad managers.
Reader Clint from Palm Springs could not have been more wrong when he states that fares have not changed much from 1968 to 2008.
I have found several 1960’s era airline ads and the typical fare to fly from New York to Los Angeles in 1966 was $290 round trip. I put that amount through several CPI conversions and got $1,926 in 2008 dollars. I don’t need to tell you that other than last minute or full fare customers, not many people pay that for a typical airline seat today. Also, until 1978 the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) regulated all fares, so discounting was almost unheard of back then. Since 1978 airfares have dropped dramatically, to the point where flying has become a form of mass transit. Prior to that there were fewer flights and fewer filled seats.
In your article you mentioned that somebody said that since Southwest is the only one profitable, it must be because their fares are lowest. This is focusing on the wrong aspect: I always fly Southwest whenever possible for one simple reason: They give me the best customer service. You don’t get automatic voicemail menus when you call them, you get right to a person. The website is simple and powerful. They don’t hit you with wacky fees, and the fare rules are pretty simple. Any of their staff you talk to at an airport is friendly, helpful, and cheerful. I know for every flight exactly what service and amenities I can expect, and it varies little from flight-to-flight. When a delay or problem occurs, they are far superior to any other airline in how they handle it: They don’t lie, they update you frequently, and as such you are willing to work with them even if you are inconvenienced. Once when a plane I was on had to be taken out-of-service at a stopover, they swapped us all to another plane and we took off again in less than 1 hour. When did United, Delta, etc. ever do that for you?
I will see if they fly where I want to go, and if so, I don’t look anywhere else. Fares are important, but quality of service is more important to me. I reward Southwest with my business because they earn it. When the Delta gate agent is rude, bored, or doesn’t care, why should I care about them? I’m certain many other people feel the same way. The other carriers keep trying to copy the low-fare aspects of Southwest but miss the whole point of how they work. Southwest’s mission statement doesn’t even mention flying…It’s focused on the customer service aspect of the business.
One other thing you need to factor in any such profitability discussion is the way they hedge their fuel purchases. Because they’ve had more cash over the years than other carriers, they’ve been able to somewhat protect themselves from the immediate impact of higher fuel costs.
Several things:
Delta / Northwest merger is bad. Northwest is still flying DC9’s- why?
Too many hubs, etc. just a bad bad merger. Will two loosing airlines make money? No just loose more.
The airline industry needs to get their act together and create a fare structure that they and the passengers can live with instead of tacking on fee after fee after fee.
American Airlines announced the following surcharges, effective immediately. It doesn’t matter if you already bought and paid for your ticket, the new charges will start immediately.
1) New surcharge to checking passengers in, AA will now charge $10 per passenger to scan your boarding pass
2) All passengers using the gangway at their arriving destination must pay a $10 “off loading fee”
3) Pay toilets are now being installed! Frequent fliers, (elite status only) will be allowed to purchase a book of 20 coupons; $50. All other travelers $5 per use!
4) Airline safety demonstrations are now considered entertainment, all passengers will be required to donate $10
5) Overhead air vents will be turned off unless ALL passengers pay $10, (cold air is heaver then hot, so cool comfort requires more fuel).
6) Flotation devices are considered excess weight, in the event they must be used, all passengers must leave a deposit on their credit card prior to boarding; $100. In the event they are not used their will be a $25 process fee charged.
7) Using an arm rest will now incur an additional $10 comfort fee.
Lost luggage fee, if your luggage arrives at a different airport then you, the airline will now impose a $100 return fee. Remember, it burns fuel to get the baggage to where you are.
9) Over head storage and the space under the seat in front of you, will be utilized by the airline to generate revenue for small parcel shipments.
10) Flight crews are allowed to carry as many bags and utilize the overhead storage, the hell with the customer!
11) Airline executives announced that they will be taking a pay cut too offset of the red ink; effective date 2020!
I thnik it would be reasonable that the airline folks whould charge a deep discounted airfare for about 25% of their seats, say in the tail section with no frills. Then the Wing sections 65% should be about $50 a seat premium with food and drinks and movies like it used to be. And the first class section 10% would continue on it’s merry way as usual. This allows the bargains to be advertised and the bottom feeders satisfied. Then all layers of the market would be serviced, by choices.
The article points out Southwest as being profitable despite being a discount carrier. It should be noted that Southwest is also the most aggressive hedger of fuel cost in the industry. Why not exercise some control on the largest variable cost? The other airlines should take note. In the environment, it would be prudent for the industry to become psuedo-experts in the fuel field.
Sorry, raising rates via fares or random fees is not acceptible. You can argue profitibility all you want but the reality is that people only have so much money to spend on airfare including me and my company. My employer has canceled travel for the rest of the fiscal year and I have planned by vacation through Christmas to be by car. 4 airline tickets add up quick no matter how much auto gas is. And paychecks are not increasing in the US.
We are spoiled brats when it comes to air travel. We want to fly cheap, fly safe, and fly on time. Our Air Traffic Control system will not support the current traffic loads so delays will be the norm. As for flying cheap, get a clue, flying cheap means expecting employees to live on substandard wages and benefits. Flying cheap is an antithesis to safety. Even Southwest Airlines sacrificed safety for economic benefits. I travel extensively world wide and I will gladly pay a fair price to do it. Just get the Clampetts off the plane!!!
For everyone thinking that airlines should just raise price, yes they have all tried. But everytime they do, they have to lower them because the other airlines do not match them because they lose too much business. And people are going to find the lowest fares. Most fliers do not have loyalty, even corporate fliers.
I flew 92,000 miles in 2007 on American and 45,000 already this year. Service is appalling, dirty planes, surly staff, 9/10 flights delayed. Capacity is already at 80% so merging airlines is only going to reduce competition. When Delta and Northwest merged – all that did was merge two large mediorce airlines into one huge mediocre airline. No try getting a competitive price out of Atlanta or Minneapolis…….
I’d like to make a deal with the airlines.
Charge us what it costs to fly us. But then you better get us where we want to go when we are supposed to get there. Depart on time and land on time!!
I think we all know our airline industry is messed up. A few years ago, I had friends visiting from England for a month. They decided they wanted to go to Las Vegas for a few days. I had to explain to them that it was VERY expensive to purchase next day tickets. They couldn’t understand this b/c in Europe, the airlines sell next day tickets cheaper. Of course, the airlines want to fill the planes. I told them that in America, it’s cheaper when you book earlier. They pointed out the obvious, that it doesn’t make sense to charge a lot of money for a seat that will not stay empty….ya, I think most of us, except the airlines, know that.
I have worked for a major airline for over 25 years. I have seen the good times and they have been few and the bad. The bad times have lasted much longer. If the airlines don’t raise fares dramatically our transportation system in this country will collapse.
I would MUCH rather just pay a higher fare up front that be charged various fees. Air travel is so repugnant these days that I’ll only fly business or first class. I can rarely afford those fares, so if I can’t drive or take a train, I don’t go.
I believe it is time we recognize the mistake of killing off passenger train service, and rebuild railroads in order to give consumers alternatives to air travel. In many markets, fast trains are a viable alternative to planes.
I would rather arrive safe on an expensive air fare than crash on a cheap one. The Air lines need to charge what it takes to operate safe and provide customer service.
I am an American who lives in Denmark with my family of 5. We are always hoping for deals to fly home to South Carolina or Texas. As of today, my three daughters say their favorite flight to the states was on Air France. The reason? Their own private remote control for the TV in the backrest in front of them. The food was pretty good too. I totally expect the price of tickets to increase. I must say that the most annoying thing to me is when airlines nickel and dime you for baggage, priority check-in, etc. PLEASE, let me pay when I book the ticket!!!!
This is 2008, not 1968. And airline fares have remained basically the same for 40 years. To do that, airline executives have cut all frills and forced drastic pay cuts on employees to subsidize cheap fares. Finally there is nothing left to cut and airline employees have endured so much, they are ready to riot. Fares MUST GO UP.
US Carriers could learn a lot from their neighbour to the north. Air Canada has come out with a strong performance over the last few years, and with WestJet Airlines, both have expanded rapidly, refurbished their fleet, and increased fares to remain profitable. Fares in Canada have generally doubled over the last year or two and it is keeping the airlines profitable.
Air Canada gives consumers options. Refuse to collect frequent flyer points, save $10. Add a second bag for only $25. Want a meal, add $5. Agree to never change flights, save $15. Want hotel accomodations when flight is delayed for nonairline fault (e.g.: weather), pay $35. The choices are endless.
You fly your own way.
I’m imagining airline executives sitting around the board room, reading these responses. “PROFIT! Darn,why didn’t we think of that?” To which the marketing guys counter, “Sure, that sounds good but what about the “COMPETITION!”
Raising prices is such a simplistic concept. Except for this: Every time it happens economy minded travelers head for Southwest and other discounters; seasoned travelers migrate to competitors because they have frequent flier accounts with most and little brand loyalty to any one; NEW discount airlines spring up to siphon off the bottom feeders; and CFOs send down orders to reduce corporate travel by 30%. So, yes, raising fares sounds like a simple solution but there’s too much competition about to make it stick.
As for deregulation, whoever thinks that’s a good idea wasn’t around during the days when only wealthy and commercial travelers could afford the fares. Maybe that’s appealing to those with elitist tendancies but most of us enjoyed domestic and international vacations that would have never been possible before deregulation. Others built regional and national businesses using this suddenly affordable mode of travel.
Want more evidence of the unhappy consequences of regulation? Ask your parnets how many times they traveled anywhere by air before 1978.
I think like any other profitable business they need to take their costs, add a markup and thats what you charge to make a profit. It’s a pretty simple approach. If they don’t there will be 1 airline left unless god forbid the government steps in and messes something else up.
I believe that charging fees for services that used to be free will prove fruitless. The problem with the airline industry isn’t the price of oil or fuel, it isn’t the price of parts or engines, and it isn’t the unions. The problem with the airline industry is the AIRLINE INDUSTRY!
For years we have heard how the airlines are going under, yet executives who have poorly managed their companies into the ground continue to receive exorbitant amounts of compensation. Now that they can no further bend the unions and employees, they are attacking their revenue source, the customer.
I would like to know where these so called Titans of Industry went to business school, because frankly, I wouldn’t give you a bag of peanuts for any one of them. In fact American Airlines was charging $2 a bag for curbside bag check-in in Boston and a few weeks ago, when the public found out that it was not a tip for the Sky Cap, but rather went into the American Airlines revenue stream, AA announced that there will be no more $2 fee per bag for curbside bag check-in and tipping of the Sky Cap is NOT allowed.
What kind of company is AA? The entire airline industry is riddled with inept and ineffective managers and they line up like pigs at the trough for compensation with no accountability to responsibility to shareholders, customers or employees (rank & file). It’s a joke. I hope they all go bankrupt. Thinks about this; The American taxpayer bailed out the airline industry after 9/11 with $3 BILLION DOLLARS! Where has it gone?
I know. BONUSES!
I think it is stupid to charge for bags. Just simply increase the fares. No one would ever argue about increased airfare cost because everyone understnads the gas hike. The bags will just make people mad. Increase the ticket and allow bags!!
I agree with those people who are in favor of just raising the prices. I for one don’t want to get to the airport and have to dig into my vacation money to pay for add ons. I’d much rather book a ticket for a fare that I know in advance.
I agree with the author of this article. Airlines for years have not known how to price their service and the public (including me) has laughed all the way to the bank. If we are to have airlines to take us to where we want to go they must make a PROFIT. Profit is not a dirty word and any business that does not make one is at risk of not staying in business. Boys and girls there are no free lunches and the airlines are not obligated to feed us or carry our baggage for free. For me I don’t want to have to drive 1,500 miles or take a bus or train. Let these people recover their costs of operation and make a profit.
On a recent full-fare business trip to Latin America, I asked the telephone reservation agent if I could change my seat assignment, and was told there was a fee for such – on an $8,000 ticket. I could, I was told, change it online – great, I thought, “Can you help me with that?” I asked – “No I’m sorry, I can transfer you to internet help if you like…”
American has lost the plot.
American believe they can get away with these surcharges because the US consumer still believes “cheapest is best” and will take a cheaper ticket plus an additional charge over an apparently more expensive ticket that includes the extras. When was the last time you saw a non-premium product touted in the US as being better, as opposed to cheaper? The economy is a product of its constituents, people, wake up and smell the coffee.
As for the complaints about excessive carry-on baggage, all it would take to encourage travelers to check bags is, apart from no surcharge, a demonstrated ability at airports to deliver bags quickly and correctly after landing. In Singapore your bags are on the belt in about 25 minutes – Arriving in Houston it’s like they’re handling bags for the first time – EVERY DAY!
I don’t really care what the airlines would call it, a price hike or some kind of surcharge, as long as they have to disclose the full amount one has to pay to fly from A to B.
In Europe, airlines are already forced to show you the full ticket price, including everything, so it’s easy to determine which airline is cheapest.
My brother and I bought tickets from LA to New York last year for $389.50 each. My brother reminded me that this was the amount he paid the first time he came to visit me in LA in 1989, when he was still living in New York. That’s the airline business’ problem. They have never raised fares over the years to meet their expenses, yet added new capacity. They have done little to promote customer loyalty, yet have created an atmosphere in which people expect to fly from New York to Los Angeles for less than a few dinners out in those two cities. I fly between the two cities several times per year, often sitting next to someone who tells me they are “bi-coastal”, and are coming to one city or another for a party. Airlines need to price tickets at a profit, and if that means changing ticket prices daily to meet the price of fuel costs, so be it. None of us have a right to fly to New York for the weekend. I do think charging for luggage is a mistake-just raise your ticket prices and provide decent service.
Competition is good. It’s Capitalism 101…Why is that phrase never included when discussing fuel prices or Big Oil profits?? maybe because there is no competition anymore. Lets see if we can’t do the same for the airline business. Pretty soon only the rich will be able to buy fuel or fly..Capitalism at it’s best..
Like every other big business in this country they are just trying to suck every last penny out of ordinary working Joe. America wake up!
Airlines do not “have” to raise their fares. But if they choose to do so, they do not need to justify it in any way. It is their right to do so. It is up to them to raise or lower fares, to include everything in price or charge us for every bag, window seat or restroom use.
And it is up to us to vote with our wallets and choose the pricing structure that we like.
Oh, and I can’t believe that some people advocate return to airline regulation.
Charging to check-in a 1st bag is crappy. I can understand a 2nd bag cause that is your choice but a 1st bag that is really a bummer. I don’t know who would travel on American after that. The Airline Industry is gonna screw us and then hopefully get screwed by government.
I took my first commercial flight in 1961 from (then) Idlewilde to San Diego and return. I flew on a United DC-8. My coach fare was about $300 round trip. The coach accommodations were far more spacious than today’s sardine-can packing. There was even a small lounge area at the rear with a low table and banquette seating.
I don’t know, offhand what $300 translates to in current $s but, as I recall, a first class letter cost no more than 5 cents, a good button-down shirt from Saks was $6.00 and one could have a great steak in a top Kansas City restaurant for about the same $6.00.
Airline tickets are absurdly cheap. Part of this can certainly be ascribed to competition from low-cost carriers like Southwest who, since deregulation, have been free to “cherry-pick” profitable routes (but have also had the good sense to use some of the regional airports rather than the big-name locations (e.g. Oakland vs SFO)and part to a “loss-leader” mentality among the major carriers.
Fares need to increase – probably by 150-200%, particularly on short-haul routes better served by a revitalized ground system. There is no reason to fly from DC to NYC, NYC to Boston or San Diego to Los Angeles.
As a previous writer observed, airports should not be bus terminals and, if the increased cost reduced traffic, reduced parking, reduced crowding and delays (while a vacation traveler attempts to stuff a steamer trunk into the overhead) – so much the better.
The bag check surcharge is just another way to raise ticket prices. Instead of ridiculous add-on charges, just figure out what it costs to fly us (with bag check and decent service) and charge me that.
When I can fly Chicago to Phoenix round trip for less than half the price of a round trip ticket to Cinncinati, the system is truly broken. And has been for a long time. Re-regulation is long overdue.
There are many inequities in the fare setting system and those of us who fly a hundred segments or more each year feel the effect of every one. Examples? The 275 pound fellow pays the same fare as my 102 pound girlfriend. The lady with two monster check bags plus a carry on, computer, and purse pays the same fare as I, on a day trip, who carries nothing more than a briefcase. I often believe that every passenger on some flights pays a different fare. So, all those add-on fees help us recognize why we’re paying extra. Security changes, dictated by government, may change tomorrow. Fuel surcharges identify how much our fare was increased by the cost of oil.
From my perspective, more bundling is a mistake. Tell me what I’m paying for. Even better, give me some options. If I don’t have a bag don’t charge me. If I don’t eat, don’t charge me. If I weigh 300 pounds, charge me more!
Regardless of how the fares are established, higher prices will drive passengers away and there is no revenue from empty seats. Therein lies the rub. The point at which non-business travelers stop flying is considerably lower than the point at which the major carriers are profitable. Discount carriers exist because of the void between the two. With excalating operational costs, however, even the discounters will have a tough time finding passengers in the months ahead.
I agree with most of the comments about just raising the prices and especially with Mark from Chicago. I believe that more people will try to carry on, thus causing more delays (and how will the airline handle checking luggage to those passengers that board towards the end that do not find overhead space?). Plus, CNN just posted an article about delays costing $41 billion in 2007 (about $20 billion of that allocated to the airline companies). It seems simpler to just raise prices accordingly to inflation and gas prices than to cause all this commotion and confusion that will be associated with charging for checking luggage.
If the airlines want to charge for luggage, will that somehow improve their miserable record of lost luggage? Ref: your story on Spirit losing luggage on a non-stop flight and not fixing the problem. Perhaps travelers should chexk out prices with UPS or the LuggageClub.com to have their luggqage arrive at their destination. Then their only concern would be whether they will arrive there as well, given the large number of stranded passengers this year.
Raise fares and be done with it. Everyone who is not an idiot knows that gas prices are up and airlines need to raise prices. This strategy is a stupid one, typical of the airlines and their woeful management teams.
So if everyone decides to carry bags on board, won’t they still be losing money and have to raise fares anyway?
Idiots! It’s no wonder this is the most despised industry in America, Southwest Airlines being the notable exception.
The surcharges that have been announced (first checked bag, etc.) are definitely in nickel-and-dime effect territory, and they will piss off a lot of people, driving customers away.
It would be better to keep it very simple:
Price for flight (seat, water, etc.)
Price for fuel (all inclusive amount)
Price for extras (one bag, two bag, or use total weight of bags)
I recently flew on business (with dread), and I was impressed with how well Southwest handled everything. Maybe their approach is the solution:
Fly only one type of airplane (old and cheap)
Get maximum gas mileage
Keep everything simple
Happy trails to you.
So let me see if I got this right: If you try to board a flight without luggage you arouse the suspicions of HLS but if you board a flight WITH luggage you get nailed for well, having luggage. You are limited to 1 carry-on bag of a somewhat limited configuration and you are compelled to pack yourself into a seat that was designed by and for Munchkins.
I have a splendid idea: If you are traveling a distance of less than 1000 miles, drive your own car, carry all the luggage you care to and avoid the abuse that the airlines and HLS inflict on you. I quit flying commercial airlines in 1991 with the exception of one flight 2005 to CA to visit my daughter. It will probably be another 14 years before I fly again, assuming that the airlines are still in business. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for them.
American Airlines lost a customer when this was announced yesterday (yours truly). I understand the reason behind it, so hopefully they’ll let the big oil companies know that while they’re piling on record profits, they’re costing American Airlines business. (Of course, big oil is also trying to take down much more than just airlines.)
It’s one thing to keep hiking fares, as airlines have been doing of late – we’ve already reached a tipping point there for me as I expect to fly just once on non-reward travel between now and mid-October, and have already cut back on flying trips drastically. But it’s another thing to nickel-and-dime us like this. Just raise the fares more. We already get nickeled-and-dimed enough by the banks without having to deal with the airlines doing it, too.
The issues that airlines have is that most of their aircraft have lease or debt payments attached to them. Can’t make the lease or debt payment with the aircraft sitting in the desert. So simply cutting capacity by more than a third and substantially raising fares is not an option with aircraft that needs to be paid for. So the airlines are trying to raise revenues on the other end.
On whole, this will not even solve their financial woes, particularly as the price of oil continues to soar and probably will so for sometime to come. The answer will probably be another round of bankruptcies with airlines finally rightsizing their fleets by rejecting leases and walking away from purchased aircraft through the power (or the opinion of many the unfairness) of the Court.
yes oil is up and the trickle down effect is prices will go up, but didnt the airlines just increase cost of a ticket 10-15% a few months ago?? they decreased the weight limit you can check and they also decreased the amount of suitcases you can check and now charging for one suitcase. not fair, just to make a buck, not fair. i study abroad and if i get the chance to go home i like to stock up on the things i like. i guess i’ll be the obnoxious with the huge carry on and the 40 pockets full of stuff.
It’s disingenuous to offer a ticket for transportation and then say “we can’t afford to provide that service for the fare we charged you.” Airlines should include air travel essentials (I.e., 50-lb. of checked baggage) in the base airfare. Further, the baggage fees are discriminatory to the elderly, physically small persons, families with children, and those medically affected, who are unable to carry-on enough luggage for their trip. Imposing a second-bag fee has the same affect as these same people cannot manage large bags, resulting in an additional fee. Since weight is the prevailing factor on fuel burn, fees should be based on that direct cause and effect and not some smoke-and-mirrors formula to glean more revenue from a dwindling customer base. In the end, it’s customer satisfaction that will make or break an airline. So far, there’s little evidence that most airline managers understand that fact.
If they charge fifteen dollars to check a bag, I hope they charge thirty to carry it on. The confusion and delay from all the paranoid people who already won’t check bags is enough to make one crazy. If one can carry on a bag with no charge but has to pay to check, it will only get worse.
In the case of American charging for checking a bag, their executives obviosly have not been on board as all those carry ons are being put in the overhead bins. I check my bag to avoid the hassles involved with the Security Lines. With the price of a barrel of oil staying in the territory of $100 to $120, they need to quit nicle and diming us and raise the costs of the flights so they can make a profit.
Alas the airlines are doing what everyone else is doing and that is being dishonest about what you really have to pay to engage their business.
It comes down to treating customers like idiots and hoping that we cannot add up, or hoping that if they engage us at a low price then we we’ll be sucked in, unable to avoid the numerous surcharges (hello cell phone companies). This process starts online with the notorious :this is the lowest fare” in large font, with the total fare including fees and taxes hidden underneath in small font.
If the airlines are not going to be honest with their pricing then they should be told to publish a detailed array of charges you may encounter on all advertisements and websites.
Don’t treat the customers like idiots. It would be far better to allow the customers to see the full costs of flying and gripe about high fares, than pull customers in and have them gripe about your sharp practices once you have them at the airport. What you currently do verges on sharp practice and should be beneath any organization.
The airlines have become the “bus terminals” of the travel industry, due to low-cost incentives to attract more travelers. Raise ticket PRICES by approximately 10% – 15%, then retrain the in-flight attendants to what “service” is/was, re-institute in-flight meals and have the attendants serve it, & cleanup – and tell them to stop complaining! The rude and unpleasant staff support personnel at airports should be FIRED immediately, and the rest instructed on what “SERVICE” means. Traveling people will pay the prices if service becomes part of the anticipated expectations.
I think that they should just raise their prices to better cover costs, althogh I am not against keeping things like movies and meals optional “menu” items. The industry is “sick” and needs to take real action to survive and hopefully florish.
Charging to check the first bag is a bad idea. (Note: I’m a frequent traveler with Elite status, so I’m not directly effected by the charges.)
It will encourage more people to carry as much as they can get away with onto the plane. This will create delays in security screening areas, and boarding. These delays will increase the stress of everyone involved. The extra baggage will increase the already crowded economy section of the plane as more passengers have to put baggage under the seats.
The increased stress will lower passenger satisfaction levels, which are already pretty low.
Charge a fair price to keep your airline profitable. Use fuel surcharges as a way to keep up with fuel costs without causing huge price fluctuations.
Some services should remain part of the cost of the ticket, such as checked bags. Remember, solid business models are about value of the service, not necessarily the cost.
Let the markets dictate the price. My answer is what the Europeans and the Japanes figured out many years ago. Economics is in favor of mass transit and bullet trains. hard to do when you are pumping $700Billion into leveling the country of Iraq.
It makes sense to charge for luggage, why should other people without luggage pay for mine? Imagine going into the coffee shop and having to pay for coffee and donut when all you had was coffee. I don’t care if the airlines lose money, I want to fly for as little as possible.
The airlines should show you a formula when you purchase the ticket.
Fixed fee + Fuel Cost = ticket price.
That way if fuel costs are rising, then you will see that part of the fare increase. If their terminal charges are rising, then that part increases. Best of all, I will not feel jerked around and suspect game playing is going on anymore!
Really, pass the costs on to me the consumer. I don’t mind. I just am tired of being confused, paying a lot, and then hearing how the airlines can’t make money.
Aside – Last time I flew I was charged $75 for a five pound dog that fit in a carry-on under the seat in front of me (and slept the whole time). There was no rhyme or reason to the fee.
AMR seems to think hiding behind separate special fees, is better than rising fares. After all, they wouldn’t want consumers to have up-front info on which to base a decision.
Reminds me of taxes.
Time for people to recognize that the travel situation is never going to be as it was, again, and they need to plan accordingly.
Charging extra money to Check In a bag, that should already be considered in the cost of the plain ticket, is not going to FIX anything. It’s only going to create more congestion on the plane while boarding. Airline companies need to look at fixing their wasted profits. Planes need to be maintained to be in excellent working order. So flights aren’t cancelled due to a mechanical malfunction. They need to stop over booking flights which causes them to hand out free boarding passes. Stop with the lost luggage. (Maybe a small cost, but still waisted money) Just like everyone else, it’s more important to put money in the pocket NOW, no matter the cost, instead of investing in the future of the company by providing solid, common sense, practical approaches to the business.
(Crazy talk, I know.)
What a surprise – cheap gasoline, money-losing airfares and unlimited personal mobility aren’t the Constitutional entitlements we always assumed they were? Next steps for Congress: feign moral outrage; whip up corporate conspiracy theory; browbeat airline execs in Congressional hearing; take advantage of public’s economic illiteracy; win re-election through populist pandering. Only in America.
I believe the airlines need to go bake to the “old” days of high ticket prices and start delivering great services.
The days of the airlines being “mass transit” are over. The prices are cheaper than buses and trains. Air travel should go back to the business people and travelers with money.
I just wrote, saw my comments, and read all the others. Those of us who care enough to respond are almost unanimous in agreeing to just raising fares. Hey CNN, assuming that no one in the airline industry cares enough to read these comments, would you care enough to pass them onto the airline execs who might care enough to listen to we who fly?
The first check bag fee imposed by American Airlines is ridiculous. This is another example of businesses nickel and dimming people, which creates bad will with customers. Note to airlines: just let your passengers carry on one item and check in one item without charge. If you need to charge more because of higher fuel costs, then reflect this in the overall ticket price.
Unbundling fares was the legacy carrier’s response to competition with the low cost carriers. It might have worked a few years back when oil futures worked wonders for airlines like Southwest, but now this idea of having a menu of items for every possible service just makes the legacy carriers look like the bad guy trying to bilk every dollar out of their customer when even the low cost carriers are now being faced with the same problem – the price of oil. These low cost carriers are raising their fares, so should the legacy carriers. I think the legacy carriers should start tailoring their business towards the business travel needs and let the low cost carriers take care of the vacationers and deal-seekers out there. All this nickel and diming of services is just creating more paperwork and confusion. Or, just raise the fares or add a fuel surcharge that allows them to be profitable. If a traveler knows up front that their paying an additional $60 to $100 just for the fuel, maybe they’ll re-think their need for a trip.
People are under the delusion that they have the right to fly at low fares. The airlines have to make money to survive. The airline industry needs to be reregulated and requires to price tickets at a level that includes profit. If that means thar fares double. Then so be it. I haev been paying the same price for 10 years for a ticket from Washington DC to Denver at Christman. Tell me, how much sense does that make? I will still fly at double the fare.
Give me back the meal, take my luggage at no additional charge, give me my window or aisle seat without an upcharge, and increase the price of a ticket. I use and need the airlines and am willing to pay my share to keep them alive and well. Charge what you need to charge. We’ll get used to it….just like $4 gas. Stop beating me to death with these ridiculous additional charges.
One reader’s comment mentioned that the only airline that is currently profitable is Southwest. While I agree that other airlines may not be a efficient as they are, their fares are no longer the lowest in the industry. I have compared fares for recent flights and Southwest was not always the lowest compared to American or other larger carriers. One of the keys for the success of Southwest is that they ONLY fly profitable routes. If you look at the destinations that Southwest flies to, it is not nearly as much as other larger carriers. If the other carriers are looking to charges additional fees, cut routes, etc. rather than raise fares, wait and see how travelers will be affected if they live in a smaller city and are severely limited by the number of flights avaiable to them
To make a very long story short, we all realize fuel prices are up dramatically. We pay, grudgingly, at the pump every time we buy gasoline. We also realize that fuel costs have increased for airlines. Instead of nickel and diming us to death with these ridiculous add-ons that do nothing more than infuriate most of us, just raise the price of a ticket and explain it in terms that even the most dim-witted of us can understand: Sorry guys, it costs more for us to run our planes, so fares have to increase to compensate. It’s the only fair way to spread the cost among all who utilize the airlines.
Maybe we can get some decently fast trains put into place in this country so we have some options besides being gouged left and right and polluting like crazy. This country is set up for the financial and environmental failure of the masses.
Bring back regulation. I believe it was a very bad idea in the late 70’s to deregulate the industry. Airlines lacking profits and poor customer service is what we have now because of deregulation. The government needs to admit that they made a big mistake and bring back a form of regulation to the industry.
Airfare increases have been minuscual over a 30 year period in relation to hotels, car rentals, tuition, insurance, oil, everything. So, I don’t have a problem with it. The airfare from LA to Chicago is not much different now (with restrictions) as it was years ago. However, many more people PAID for first class or business class 20 years ago as opposed to today, first class is fully booked with free upgrades, mostly.
I agree that air lines NEED to raise fares. If air travelers such as myself expect to have air lines to bring me from point A to B, we must be prepared to pay more. I just booked a flight to Costa Rica, and it was almost $200.00 cheaper than the same flight last year at this time. In the mean time, crude oil prices have more than doubled. Do I hate being nickled and dimed? Absolutely. Do I want there to be air lines around in the future to accommodate my travel needs? Yes! even more than I hate being nickled and dimed.
What the air lines really need to do, is charge for carry on luggage that is over the permissible size. (Yes, there is actually a size requirement for carry on luggage, and some of us do actually abide by it when we travel.) Charging for humungus pieces of luggage that should rally be checked in would force travelers to take only what they need if they are tryng to “travel light,” or inconvienence only themselves if they feel they have to pack their entire house for a one week vacation.
I completely agree with Paul La Monica. The airlines need to bite the bullet and increase fares proportionate to the cost of doing business – and our society of the entitled either needs to accept it or shouldn’t fly. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not excited by the propect of paying through the nose to travel, and I am fully aware of the impact it will have on individuals and businesses who rely on air travel for their livelihood – but airlines are after all in the business to make money like everyone else in this country. And I agree that there will be less gnashing of teeth if the airlines would simply increase airfares outright rather than add surcharges which have other ramifications (e.g. more passengers trying to stuff carryons in the overhead compartments)
Most rational people must know by now that airlines must raise fares and raise them significantly in order to survive – unless they’ve been living under a rock and/or do not own a car. As a consumer, I would much rather see the ticket prices go up sharply than be hassled by ala carte charges at the airport when trying to catch a flight. The public needs to understand that flying is not their right, it is a privilege. The airlines MUST cover their costs in order to be able to continue to offer their services.
I completely agree with your assessment that airlines just need to raise their fares. I consider myself a frequent flier and some of my more recent trips were priced ridiculously low ($60 each way from St Louis to Nashville, TN). At that price, it’s was cheaper to fly than drive given the current price for gas. I would be willing for pay for a higher fare rather than get nickled and dimed to death. The airlines need to come up with a better plan to return to profitability other than charge fees for checked baggage, window seats and other misc. items. The airlines’ justification for these additional fees is that they are losing an extremely large amount of money due to higher fuel costs but they are missing an important point; they will probably lose valuable customers because of all the hassels surrounding air travel.
It is in everyone best interest that the airline industry become more profitbable and viable going forward. Given the current state of the industry, you will see more and more airlines out of business and/or more mergers which limits competition.
Wow, now that is flawed logic and a contradiction in and of itself, if the only airline that is turning a profit is the lowest cost ailine of them all, then how is hiking prices going to make a difference, people put up with poor service on Southwest flights because they are cheap, the problem is not in low prices, the problem is gaint companies not being liquid enough to mold themselves to a changing landscape and being almost as ineffecient as the major us car companies, or the Federal government. Once again high gas prices aren’t our fault how is it that we should be punished for the greed of big companies be it Big Oil, or the Airlines, Your reasoning doesn’t make sense. Price hikes will further consolidate the airline industry! Mark my words.
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I really don’t understand people that say “Raise airfares! Don’t charge for individual things!” Do you like to pay for things you don’t use? Do you like to pay more right off the top? Do you not budget? That is like saying every time you go out to dinner you have to pay for an appetizer, salad, main course, dessert, beverage and wine, even if you only want to consume the main course and a salad. Everything should be laid out in the beginning when you are making your airplane ticket purchase (base fare, + 1 checked in bag, +2 checked in bags, +meal, +curbside check in, +on-flight movie), but it is silly to say you want to pay more just so you don’t have to think about adding numbers together to figure out a price.