American Airlines will charge for 1st checked bag

by poolparty | May 21, 2008 at 12:03 pm

2584 views | 14 Recommendations | 21 comments

We’ve heard about the airlines charging for a second checked bag, but charging for your only bag??? American Airlines will begin charging customers a $15 fee for their first checked bag starting June 15th. If you have a second bag you'll still get charged $25 on top of the $15, so in essence you’ll get charged $40 for checking two bags. On top of this new checked baggage fee, the airline plans on cutting jobs and reducing their 2008 flight schedule in response to rising fuel costs.

Will the new fees put you off flying? Vote here.

Starting June 15, American will charge passengers a $15 fee for their first checked bag. Last week, the carrier began charging a $25 fee each way for the second checked bag. That means passengers checking two pieces of luggage could end up paying $80 round trip. The increase announced Wednesday does not apply to certain AAdvantage members and some full-fare and international flights.

American’s schedule reductions will result in job cuts and possibly facility closures or consolidations.

Asked whether the layoffs would be in the thousands, AMR chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey said: "I would think so." But he hesitated to give precise numbers to the scope of the cutbacks and how it would affect employees, cities and routes until the airline firms up its plans.

"The objective would be to try to eliminate overheads and costs commensurate with the capacity reduction," Mr. Arpey said. "In terms of what the actual layoffs will be, we don’t have a number for you today."

Mr. Arpey said the capacity reductions will reduce domestic flying by 11 to 12 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period of 2007, and overall flying will be down 7 percent or so. He said there may be adjustments on some international markets, but almost all the cutbacks will take place on domestic routes.

The carrier also announced plans to retire up to 75 aircraft as a result of the capacity reductions.

The airline industry as it is constituted today was not built to withstand oil prices at $125 a barrel, and certainly not when record fuel expenses are coupled with a weak U.S. economy," Mr. Arpey said in a statement. "Our company and industry simply cannot afford to sit by hoping for industry and market conditions to improve.”
Most U.S. carriers have announced cutbacks in their schedules for the rest of 2008, mainly on domestic routes, as opposed to international routes, where demand is higher and tickets sold in nondollar currencies bring in more profit.

recommend Add a comment

Jarrett Martineau

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:24 on May 21st, 2008

Booooooooooo.

21-gramm

at 17:17 on May 21st, 2008

Thanks, Jarrett!

bahi

at 17:29 on May 21st, 2008

For $15 a bag, I'd expect a porter to load and handle the luggage trolley.

bahi has contributed a photo to this story.

Kerstin Martin

at 17:46 on May 21st, 2008

I worked in the airline industry for many years and it saddens me what has become of it. I understand the pressures they are under, especially in view of rising fuel costs, but it's not just that. Certainly with a lot of the American carriers I've been witnessing a steady decline in customer service and basic courtesy. Air travel used to be exciting and even a little glamorous, but these days they stuff you into small seats like sardines and I wouldn't be surprised if they started charging you for "smiles" and a "positive attitude", too.

cdleeth

at 18:00 on May 21st, 2008

It might just be a sculpture, but it also serves as an excellent metaphor for airline costs and beyond.

cdleeth has contributed a photo to this story.

_flux

at 20:18 on May 21st, 2008

www.flickr.com/ephemeral-flux

_flux has contributed a photo to this story.

pandora_6666

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 22:03 on May 21st, 2008

Steph02, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Jaypeg

at 00:36 on May 22nd, 2008

Jaypeg has contributed a photo to this story.

CeeCeeCee

at 03:21 on May 22nd, 2008

Suitcase sculpture at the top of Mount Street, Liverpool

Carrie132 has contributed a photo to this story.

Jeffrey Johnson

at 03:32 on May 22nd, 2008

This is only one reason why my family is not flying during vacation this year!

Jersey JJ has contributed a photo to this story.

Van-Murph

at 04:28 on May 22nd, 2008

When you shop on the internet and always take the lowest fare, what do you really expect the airlines to do? You get what you pay for...

Michael Domingo

at 05:55 on May 22nd, 2008

DFW June 26, 2005 - As we pushed back from the gate I thought how long will American Airlines survive?

Michael Domingo (www.michaeldomingo.com)

Michael Domingo has contributed a photo to this story.

Michael Domingo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 05:58 on May 22nd, 2008

Steph02, excellent story with perfect timing. As the summer months in North America approach, many are thinking twice about vacations that include flying. Well done. Keep up the great work!

Cheers,

Michael Domingo (photo author)

www.michaeldomingo.com

Alejandro Gil Ogando

at 07:30 on May 22nd, 2008

Alejandro Gil Ogando has contributed a photo to this story.

kristen5613

at 07:54 on May 22nd, 2008

that blows.

kristen5613 has contributed a photo to this story.

leadenhall

at 07:57 on May 22nd, 2008

A view of the tail of an American Airlines plane.

leadenhall has contributed a photo to this story.

pixlKEY

at 12:17 on May 22nd, 2008

American Airlines at KPSP taxiing

pixlKEY has contributed a photo to this story.

Fabster

at 14:00 on May 22nd, 2008

Plane Spotting is my favorite hobby and it has also given me a way to witness many in-sight info about what happens in many parts of the world and a way to improve my photography due to the skill it demands. I highly recommend it.

Fabster has contributed a photo to this story.

Aviones en SCEL

at 22:34 on May 26th, 2008

In SCEL (santiago de chile) airport, B767

Aviones en SCEL has contributed a photo to this story.

Ponskippa

at 00:36 on May 28th, 2008

you know, $15 is quite fair to be honest. i know. you paid for your ticket you should be allowed to bring your stuff. times have changed though, did you know 8 years ago jet fuel was only about 50 cents a gallon? today it is about 7 dollars a gallon. a wide body aircraft easily takes 30,000 gallons to cross the atlantic. fares are actually still considerately low, compared to the cost of the actual flight. and so you guys know, this $15 fee does not apply to international flights, frequent fliers of American, and people that have paid full fare for their seat. in other words, this applies to people who have got their ticket 6 months in advance at the lowest price. the vacationer who wants to haul 200 lbs of wardrobe and sun block for a one week trip. $15 to bring along your 50 lb bag is cheap. try fedexing or ups to ship that bag, it'll be more expensive. people need to stop dogging airlines