No end in sight in battle over airline fees
Disgruntled airplane passengers are increasingly complaining that the outdated pay-as-you-go concept has been hopelessly lost as the airlines keep coming up with ways to charge for services that once were free.
“In the space of 18 months, the concept of a plane ticket has been transformed from an all-inclusive purchase to a pay-as-you-go plan, turning the relationship between airlines and customers increasingly sour,” suggests The New York Times.
Every time a passenger books a ticket, it seems, major airlines have come up with more ways to charge for what once was free, like fees for reserving more desirable seats in the economy section of the plane.
Adding to travelers’ frustration is that the long-cited reason for the switch to “à la carte” pricing — record oil prices — is no longer the driving force behind the changes, said the Times.
“Instead, airlines now cite their inability to make money, and consumers’ resistance to higher ticket prices, as their reason for thinking up new ways to make customers pay extra,” the newspaper says.
Over the last decade internationally, the airlines lost $55 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association, the airlines’ global trade group. And the outlook for 2010 remains glum.
“We need to return to profitability, and we need to do so immediately,” said Mark Bergsrud, the senior vice president for marketing at Continental Airlines
He and some other airline executives offer another line of reasoning for the new environment: the me-too factor. Cell phone providers, sports arenas and theaters all add charges on top of the basic price of what they sell. Customers are used to it, so why shouldn’t the airlines join in?
But will consumers continue to accept the add-ons?
Consumer advocates say the tactic will ultimately backfire.
“I frankly think the airlines are going to find out that these unbundling gimmicks do not work,” said Paul Hudson, a lawyer and the executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project
Even some in the industry acknowledge the airlines have continued to offer poor service.
“On the whole, for the last ten years, the industry has done a really rotten job of looking after passengers,” said Robin Hayes, chief commercial officer at JetBlue Airways.
While many customers have accepted the changes, that’s because “there’s very little choice,” Hayes said. “But the industry would be foolish” to keep adding new charges for things passengers had become accustomed to receiving in the ticket price.
By David Wilkening
David
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