Posted on 05/10/2016 4:46:55 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Two U.S. senators say one way to reduce long airport security lines this summer is for airlines to drop their fees on checking luggage. […]
Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey and Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday they asked executives at 12 airlines to drop checked-bag fees this summer. The senators say suspending the fees won’t eliminate lines but it’s a start.
A spokeswoman for the nation’s largest airlines called the senators’ proposal a misguided attempt to re-regulate airlines and warned it could make airline travel more expensive — fares would rise to offset the loss of income from fees. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
a better way to get rid of the terrible airport lines would be to reassign all the Officical Gropers to duty stamping out forest fires in Montana
Senators are sooo smart! I can’t believe the private sector
doesn’t scoop these geniuses up to run their corporations.
Actually that does happen to the ones who lose elections.
Of course they don’t have assignments doing anything other than influence peddling.
That’s crazy. They should be in charge of ...well, everything!
If they drop the fees, there will be more bags, more crowded-edness, more time needed to board and deplane... They need to raise fees, and airfares if they want to shorten wait times.
Just like during the Titanic inquest where some dolt from Congress asked why the passengers couldn’t have found safety in the watertight compartments on the ship.
How about abolishing the TSA union protection racket, reduce their wages to minimum, and then incentivizing agents and supervisors to run their airport screenings more efficiently if you want bonuses, or don’t want to get fired in place of someone who does.
Or...you could defund and dismantle the TSA and just hire some Isreali security to profile passengers. But that would save too much money and be too effective.
The reason airlines are charging bag fees is because they have to pay a tax as a percentage of each ticket sold, but the tax does not apply to fees for things like bags and in-flight service. So the airlines are shifting as many costs as possible to untaxed fees and away from the ticket price.
Congress made this mess when they passed this poorly drafted tax law. Now they blame the airlines, and demand more authority to clean up the mess they, themselves, made. Typical.
So if they drop the bag fees they think people will check all their luggage once again and then spend two hours in line at their destination waiting for their bags to be delivered. Last time I flew to Phoenix, my bag never made it and was never found and it was a non-stop flight. I don’t even want to know how these brilliant minds would propose solving the issue of all the lost luggage.
Drop more RATS in govment’
Here’s an idea: Profile likely bombers. Detain and examine those who fit the profile.
Typical of all their Ponzi schemes. The more control the government takes, the worse things get.
Senators... the airlines are in a highly competitive situation on ticket prices... not so much on hidden baggage fees.
Want to shorten lines. Get rid of TSA screenings for everybody and start profiling. It works.
Senators... the airlines are in a highly competitive situation on ticket prices... not so much on hidden baggage fees.
Want to shorten lines. Get rid of TSA screenings for everybody and start profiling. It works.
All that does is move the lines from the “check in” to the “baggage claim” area.
The bag fees came about because the tax increase on the price of airline tickets. This was a way for the airlines to move some of the ticket price out from the tax. Drop the tax and then the airlines will drop the fee. Donald Trump will sort this out.
If the fee results in more net income for the airline, why would they drop the fee after an airline tax gets released? I think they will drop the bag fee only if and when they become convinced that dropping the bag fee will enhance the airline's net income. They aren't charities.
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