Should airlines charge for carry-on bags?
Amid the grumbling about paying for checked bags, including American Airlines’ charge for a first bag, two professors who specialize in transportation economics have a suggestion for the airlines:
Make people who carry on their bags pay, not the people who check them.
George Hoffer, a professor of economics at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, thinks the people in a hurry — that is, the ones who want to get off the plane fast and shoot out the door — would be willing to cough up some cash to carry on a bag. Time, after all, is money.
“What you’re doing is catering to the person whose time is of more value,” Hoffer said.
We know generally who that is: business execs and Type-A personalities.
Richard Gritta, a professor of finance and transportation at the University of Portland Pamplin School of Business in Oregon, thinks airlines should charge for a second carry-on, just as some are now charging for a second bag.
“Why should a person who gets on with two big bags…be charged the same as the person who gets on with [just] a carry-on?” he asked.
They have a point.
On the other hand, American may have a cash cow with its $15-a-bag idea.
“Think about it,” Gritta said. “If you have 200 people on a plane and you charge them $15 apiece and you multiply, that’s $3,000 right there. Multiply that by hundreds of flights a day and that is not insignificant.”
The charge for a family, both professors noted, isn’t insignificant either. Mom and Dad and two kids are now paying $60 more for their vacation.
The big question, methinks, has nothing to do with bags, although that’s part of it. It’s whether we’re reaching the end of the cheap-flight era and we’re reverting to the 1950s, when only the rich could afford to fly.
Everything runs in a circular motion…
– Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
[Photo: Ric Francis / Associated Press]
6 Comments on “Should airlines charge for carry-on bags?”
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June 11th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Although the flying public won’t like it, the airlines should raise their prices by 100% and restore meals, good service, and no-charge for checked bags. There will be fewer flyers, meaning shorter lines, less crowded planes, easier check-in, etc. The airlines will fly fewer planes and can lay-off extra employees.
The business model of reducing prices and service to the bare minimum has not worked.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Absolutely, airlines should charge for carry-on bags. The more weight you bring on to an airplane, the more you should pay.
Likewise, overweight people should pay extra. Why should a 300-pound behemoth pay the same as a 90-pound model? Maybe the weight charge will encourage some of those obese travelers to start eating healthy…
June 11th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Leave it to the over-educated eggheads to get it wrong…as usual. I never check my bags, not because I’m a type-A personality, but because I don’t want my luggage stolen or lost.
The airlines can charge me for a carry-on bag. I really don’t care about an additional $15 or $20. I suspect that people who are concerned about being charged for their luggage really can’t afford to travel and should probably stay home.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Rather than penalizing people for bringing extra bags, they should reward those with less bags. Build in the extra cost of baggage (add $15 to the ticket) and if a person carries on or brings less than the 2 bags he/she receives a credit/coupon equal to the additional charge. This could increase loyalty b/t airline brands and encourage people to think twice before packing more.
June 11th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I find this a ridiculous idea. Why should I be penalized by having to pay for my small carry-on bag? I travel lightly, carefully edit the clothes I bring for extended trips, and laugh at those who can’t travel without enormous bags as tall as small children. Why should they not have to pay? After all, isn’t it costing the airlines more to move their bag than mine?
June 11th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
The airlines should charge for a second carryon as some of these carryons are larger and heavier than any checked baggage.
It jams the overhead space- adds to weight to the load already on the airplane.
Getting on with a back pack jammed full AND another so called “handbag” is abusing the carry on policy.