From: http://www.aviationplanning.com/HotFlash.htm At $15 It Was A Pain. At $25, It May Be A Revolt Bag Fees: Southwest Better Hire More Staff The airline industry might want to start considering that there is a lim= it to what passengers will tolerate. In the last month, at least one major carrier has "enhanced" its frequen= t flyer program by raising the miles for upgrades and implementing a "co= -pay" fee. That upgrade for a party of three to Europe went from 90,000 = miles to 110,000 miles plus a $1,200 (yes, over a grand) co-pay. The car= rier's high-level exalted spent-uranium-level frequent flyers must feel = real valued right now. Great idea: tick off your most frequent customers= . Then the announcement came that carriers are raising first-bag fees to b= etween $23 and $25, depending on airline. Toss in things like periodic b= ut major security failures that have shut down airport terminals over th= e past month, the threat of more intrusive pat-downs, the stories of ful= l-body scanners, rumors of no movement in the last hour of the flight, a= nd the whole concept of air travel takes on a visual reminiscent of the = Spanish Inquisition. But it's the baggage thing that's liable to cause the natives in the coa= ch cabin to exhibit unrest. The rationale behind baggage fees really isn't out of line, but the airl= ine industry has failed miserably to articulate it. They've abandoned th= e PR field to consumerist twits and vapor-brained politicians. The airline industry seems to be taking the Marie Antoinette approach: = let 'em eat cake. Passengers have no choice. Take it or leave it. We don= 't have to 'splane nothin' to them. But the industry may want to conside= r what happened to the lovely and gracious Ms. Antoinette. There are mor= e than a few loons on Capitol Hill that are willing to make airline head= s roll to get some cheap political points, not to mention the "consumeri= sts" and their running-dog talk-show supporters. (They're not airline ex= perts, but they play one on TV.) Even With Fees, Airlines Are Taking In Less. Both on the surface and in = hard economic reality, bag fees make sense. First, unit revenues were do= wn around 10% for the year 2009. Even with travel-specific ancillary fee= s (baggage charges, which are an intrinsic part of the consumer's trip, = as opposed to the option of buying stale potato chips on-board) passenge= rs were actually paying less to travel than the year before. Second, with internet booking, ticketing, and check in, the functionalit= y of airport facilities has fundamentally changed to one that's baggage-= centric, and less passenger-centric. That ten-position ticket counter is= n't needed when there aren't any tickets anymore, and passengers process= themselves at home or at a check-in kiosk. Airport facilities are more = into bag-processing than passenger processing. Finally, charging bag fees is essentially a selective fare increase: No = bag for the carrier to handle, no fee. But none of that is registering with the flying public. All they see is = a minimum of a $50 hit round trip just to give their Samsonite to somebo= dy at the airport they don't know. They don't see any of the rationale. = They don't care if, even with the bag fee, they may be paying no more th= an last year's trip to Tucson. They don't have any idea of the complex n= ature of airline pricing. All they know, read, and hear is that those gr= eedy airlines are hiking fees. And we hear nothing from the airline indu= stry. They May Not Really LUV Bags, But Passengers Are Noticing. So, we have a= situation where carriers really do need the revenue those fees bring in= . But in the process they've created a golden market opportunity for Sou= thwest to look like the knight in shining 737s. Consumers are taking notice that Southwest isn't charging for baggage. T= hey hear Southwest isn't clipping them another $25 bucks for that change= of underwear that won't fit in the carry-on. In short, for consumers th= at do have luggage, Southwest, right out of the box has a perceived $50 = round-trip "fare" advantage. With savvy yield management, the airline ca= n engineer that into both more revenue for it and lower costs for the co= nsumer. And, at some point, frequent flyer loyalty goes away at fee-char= ging carriers. That family vacation to Florida is getting pretty pricy w= hen it's another $100 or more just for luggage. It's true that Southwest is leaving millions on the table by not chargin= g for luggage. But they may be putting millions more in the passenger ca= bins of their airplanes. One additional WN fare on average is the equiva= lent of almost five first-bag fees. Do the math. Consumers probably are. And there's not much other carriers can do about= it. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".