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Two billion reasons why you pay to check bags
Or, you could call it "2 billion reasons why flight attendants shouldn't get raises." It works both ways.The labor debacle at British Airways reminds us of the perpetual
In the United States last year, 769.9 million travelers set foot on planes (departing from, arriving to or completely domestic), a decline of 5.3 percent from recession-stained 2008 and off 8.2 percent from 2007, when 832.2 million passengers flew the friendly skies. This was the first time the number of fliers fell below the 800 million mark since 2004, in which 763.7 million passengers boarded planes. Think about it: 2009 is basically 2004. The airline industry has lost five years of growth.
Meanwhile, fewer people were paying less for tickets, with the average fare falling $30 from 2007 to 2009 – settling at around $315. The increase in demand led to the shedding of around 700,000 flights from 2008 to 2009.
In all, this dynamic cost the U.S. airline industry approximately $2 billion ... and that doesn't include financial losses elsewhere. Fewer customers spending less led to a profound decline in revenue, and the airlines need to find a way to get it back. They've been able to close the gap, in part, through the ancillary fees we've all grown to hate. Every time you pay to check a bag, eat an unsatisfying sandwich or grab a little more leg room, you're helping to keep these guys in business.
Of course, this would be a lot easier if the airlines would do their part. Price increases are frustrating when you see striking employees looking for more in a market where their salaries are effectively unsustainable. And with some flight attendants willing to subject themselves to interviews with 18 airlines in order to land a job, it's pretty clear that demand is sufficiently high to make pay raises not only unnecessary but irresponsible.
So, it's time for both sides of this equation to accept reality.
Passengers: you'll be paying for extras. The airlines need it right now, and the beauty of momentum is that they'll keep charging us for everything imaginable even when the economy recovers, because they aren't going to slash a revenue stream that's paying off.
Flight attendants: raises? Look at the economics of the situation. If passengers are paying more for the same service and demand is high for a shrinking number of positions, there's no reason to pay them. With revenue in the tank and an aggregate net loss of $4.6 billion for 11 U.S. airlines last year, there's no money for raises ... unless there's a new way to extract blood from a stone, of course.
In all, this dynamic cost the U.S. airline industry approximately $2 billion ... and that doesn't include financial losses elsewhere. Fewer customers spending less led to a profound decline in revenue, and the airlines need to find a way to get it back. They've been able to close the gap, in part, through the ancillary fees we've all grown to hate. Every time you pay to check a bag, eat an unsatisfying sandwich or grab a little more leg room, you're helping to keep these guys in business.
Of course, this would be a lot easier if the airlines would do their part. Price increases are frustrating when you see striking employees looking for more in a market where their salaries are effectively unsustainable. And with some flight attendants willing to subject themselves to interviews with 18 airlines in order to land a job, it's pretty clear that demand is sufficiently high to make pay raises not only unnecessary but irresponsible.
So, it's time for both sides of this equation to accept reality.
Passengers: you'll be paying for extras. The airlines need it right now, and the beauty of momentum is that they'll keep charging us for everything imaginable even when the economy recovers, because they aren't going to slash a revenue stream that's paying off.
Flight attendants: raises? Look at the economics of the situation. If passengers are paying more for the same service and demand is high for a shrinking number of positions, there's no reason to pay them. With revenue in the tank and an aggregate net loss of $4.6 billion for 11 U.S. airlines last year, there's no money for raises ... unless there's a new way to extract blood from a stone, of course.
Gallery: 10 of the worst luggage incidents in the world
Filed under: Business, North America, United States, Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
William Mar 30th 2010 12:36PM
Screw the airlines. They started the baggage and other fees because of the extraordinary high cost of fuel a couple of years ago. The fuel costs receded, but the ancillary prices keep increasing.
You can't keep screwing over your customers and expect us to come back for more. Here's a thought. Maybe the volume of passengers (and accompanying revenue) would climb if we didn't feel like the airlines were trying to screw us at every turn.
Add in the absurd hassles instituted by the TSA in the name of security and it's not hard to understand why people would rather not fly.
Helen Kerwin Mar 30th 2010 5:29PM
It IS a rip-off,,,if they must charge, how about charging the yokels who haul their entire possessions aboard to stow in the overhead bins? Checked bags ride free...no hassle aboard the aircraft getting on or off! Only your laptop and/or bag of jewels and medicine (you can;t trust THEM to the airline) allowed. Lots of cash income, more than my one suitcase!
Mark Mar 31st 2010 1:20AM
They should charge by the pound, for luggage and passengers alike... that way they are covered for the large folks that need 2 seats, they are covered for the baggage, and yes if you pay for a soda or a drink walking down the street why shouldn't you pay for what they stock on an airplane that can only carry so much weight?
Jimmy Mack Mar 30th 2010 4:30PM
Johansmeyer's absurd attack on flight attendants reveals his lack of knowledge of airline issues. Not only that, he stupidly contradicts himself from one paragraph to the next. If the airlines are suffering so much with "only" 767 million passengers last year, then why is demand high for flight attendants? You can't have it both ways. Johansmeyer never once mentions the wildly fluctuating cost of oil as an issue for airlines. Instead he takes the uninformed, small-minded cheap-shot approach of blaming flight attendants for bag fees, as if they really have anything to do their management's corporate moves. This article does a dis-service to airline travelers, and one has to question if Johansmeyer has any clue what he writes about. Blaming flight attendants for bag fees? Lazy journalism.
Kflyer Mar 30th 2010 7:50PM
As a 23 year flight attendant, I agree. The situation is like this. When the cab driver pays more for gas, you pay more for the ride. He still has the right to earn a living, not lose his house to foreclosure and so on. If you cant afford the cab you don't go, but you put gas in your car too, so the price increase is no surprise. The problem with the entire airline industry is that they will not, as a whole, raise prices to cover costs. It is true that airline management make too much $$, but so do the CEO's of just about any industry you can think of. The front line employees like me, and the taxi driver, deserve to be able to live. What has happened is that I am expected to forgo the raise, move into a single wide and not have my kids go to college because my industry is afraid to raise the ticket price. All the while, my expenses increase too. I too have to pay for gas and food. The flying public sees that the CEO's are making millions and the public inquisition and outrage would expose all this. I have not had a raise in 8 years. I wasnt making that much to begin with.
You cant blame flight attendants for this mess. We are trying to do the best we can with what we are given. I think that the CEOs should take sizable pay cuts across the industry, not nickel and dime the passengers and let everyone be able to make a living so that we are not on food stamps.
Everyone needs to respect that all businesses are in business to make money and it is not wrong to do so. BTW, Jet fuel closed at $90.48 today......
Jack Mar 30th 2010 4:37PM
So the airlines are hurting, they brought that on them selves. They played this money game of merge, buy out one other airline. So what we had years ago were great airlines, and it was a joy to fly is no longer. They built bigger aircraft an dfixed tham so that you are crammed in as tight as can be. They don't keep schedules, it use to be that weather did not cause the big back up that they have now because they don't have the aircraft or crews +where they need them. They have cut the number of flights.
Now with the checked baggage cost every thing is carried on. So it take for every to load a air craft.
It has been years since I have flown any where. Took a trip these last month, and if I had to go someplace would do everything possible to keep from flying.
So now they cut service and nickle and dime us all over the place. The FA job has got worse, cut the number in the crew and more people on the aircraft so they want more money, who can blame them.
Maybe they should put a tip jar at the door so as to collect a little extra from the flyers as they leave the aircraft. workes in the food service business, don't pay much wage expect the customer to make up for it with a tip.
Liesel Mar 30th 2010 4:41PM
Mr. Johansmeyer- instead of attacking flight attendants who are working at 1994 wages and struggling to pay their bills, why don't you address the CEO's and Vice Presidents who are giving themselves raises and multi-million dollar bonuese every year, even though the airlines are loosing money!
diane Mar 30th 2010 10:54PM
"loosing"? lol, it's "losing".
Tony Moschetti Mar 30th 2010 4:56PM
I'm taking a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale next month. For the first time I'm driving rather than flying, even though it is about 800 miles from my North Carolina home.
I, like many, have had it with the airlines. Forcing terror suspects to fly commercial would be banned as torture! We PAY to be tortured!
Jim Arn Mar 30th 2010 4:58PM
You say the flight attendants should not expect to get raises? What about management and upper management? We make between 30-50k a year, depending on how many years of service and how much we work. To say that we should not expect raises, especially if contractual, is an egrigious statement. I wonder what you would say if people stopped reading your columns. You would still be expecting your salary, correct?
Chef Dave Mar 30th 2010 5:03PM
The airlines keep crying about being broke...tough! My daughter was to take a flight out of DeMoine 2 months ago to CA. Her friend drove her 2 hours to the airport, after she arrived and went to check in the airline said "didn't you get the E-mail we sent 30 min ago - your flight has been cancled!" Now mind you she was on the road for 2 hours how the heck was she to get an E-mail? I HAD TO PAY TO TRANSPORT HER TO A HOTEL AND PUT HER UP FOR 2 DAYS!!! The airline did nothing for her at all except tell her she should have paid the $65 flight interpution insurance they offered!
We called the customer service hot line 3 times - to this day they have never bothered to return a call. And the airlines wonder why they are loosing money -plain and simple THEY JUST DON'T GET IT!
THEY NEED US - THE CONSUMER - WE DON'T NEED THEM
alysnwonder Mar 31st 2010 12:53AM
your daughter doesn't have a cell phone.
was the weather where you are acting strangly?
a two hour drive is not a big deal, why didn't she just come home?
you have no way of contacting the airline before you set out?
Dusey Beck Mar 30th 2010 5:10PM
The charge for baggage has forced flyers to "stuff" everything into a carry-on. NOW it takes us forever to get thru security because it is almost impossible to scan that carry-on quickly. Instead of giving those of us carrying only our handbag/tote a separate line, we have to be held up behind these people who also usually carry another smaller bag! Furthermore, how safe are we now that these carry-ons are so over loaded. It has got to be almost impossible to really see what is in that bag!
Dr. M Mar 30th 2010 5:34PM
Anyone with an elementary education in mathematics would realize that every pound that is transported on an airplane costs the airlines money! Commercial airlines should have always been charging transporting luggage. Open your eyes and look at the appalling amount of luggage that people expect the airlines to transport for free.
As for the flight attendants, spend a week in the life of a flight attendant, before you critique their salary. I wouldn't have that job for double their salary.
Matt Mar 31st 2010 10:22AM
You do know that Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, right?
Cappy Lills Kid Mar 30th 2010 5:32PM
Deregulation of the airlines has worked out soooo good
thanks ronnie
cpatg47 Mar 30th 2010 10:39PM
Yes, deregulation is the reason the airlines are in such a mess, but it wasn't Ronnie, it was Jimmy who signed the deregulation bill into law. Please put the blame where blame is due.
Lola Mar 31st 2010 2:54AM
Amen!! The reason airline revenue is in the toilet is simple; the misguided notion that the public won't pay realistic ticket prices. The fact is that 99.999% of all US based airlines are charging airfares that were realistic in 1972 ... but hey, guess what, the 70's are long gone. We pay more for fuel in our cars, food on our table and the roof over our heads. WHY DON'T THE AIRLINES FOLLOW THE LEADER? You can't pay your employees a fair wage if your fares are so ridiculously low. And before the haters start in, I'm not suggesting we beat travelers and take all their money, but lets be realistic; it's the cost of doing business in today's marketplace. RAISE AIRFARES & PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES WHAT THEY'RE WORTH. (Are you listening CAL? DAL? USAIR?)
MFlyer Mar 30th 2010 5:41PM
TOM: Screw you and the airline that is obviously paying you. Here's a suggestion: make customers pay for those excessive CARRY-ON BAGS and give those who CHECK BAGS the break. It's redonkulous how much CRAP is brought thru security, slowing lines and then crammed into overheads and under seats. What a time waste.
The airlines have turned into Greyhound anyway, transporting the unwashed masses en mass. I say give the business traveler a break and the vacation passenger the back of the plane.
Stam Mar 30th 2010 5:40PM
I don't fly anymore. I'm retired, so I drive coast to coast every spring and return in the fall. I got plenty of time and plenty of $$$, but I don't got to fly.