Posted on 05/21/2008 8:10:15 AM PDT by piperpilot
FORT WORTH, Texas - American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices.
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The nation's largest carrier said Wednesday the fee for the first checked bag starts June 15 and that it would raise other fees for services ranging from reservation help to oversized bags. The other fees will mostly range from $5 to $50 per service, the airline said.
Last month American announced it would join other carriers in charging $25 for second bags checked for some passengers, but it wasn't immediately clear how Wednesday's announcement would affect that.
American plans to cut domestic flight capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter. American had previously expected fourth-quarter capacity to fall 4.6 percent from the same period in 2007.
Parent AMR Corp. said reduced flying will lead to an undisclosed number of job cuts at both American and its American Eagle subsidiary.
AMR expects to retire 45 to 50 planes from its fleet, most of them gas-guzzling MD-80 aircraft. Those were the plane grounded for faulty wiring last month.
American said rising oil prices have increased its expected annual fuel costs by nearly $3 billion since the start of the year.
AMR shares tumbled $1.10, or 13.4 percent, to $7.10 after the announcement which came as its shareholders gathered for their annual meeting.
Guess who won’t be flying American, anytime soon.
Looks like the overhead bins are going to get even MORE stuffed...
And they wonder why they’re getting their butts kicked by airlines like Southwest.
Great.
Now more of the rude a$$wipes who ruin airline travel for the rest of us, will be trying to stuff ALL of their luggage into the overhead compartments.
American just signed it’s own corporate death certificate.
I have a bunch of business trips to DC and Texas over the next few weeks. I fly Delta because they are the partner to SkyWest out of Pocatello. Charging for the first bag is just nuts. We already pay a big price for the airfare, get little more than Coke and peanuts for food and have to put up with harassment from the Thugs Standing Around on the way to the gate. Driving isn't even an option at that distance and the current gas prices. I've put off any travel since early Dec 2007, but there comes a time when products need to be delivered to the customer. That time starts next week.
The airlines are apparently lobbying the public to have themselves replaced with a national high-speed rail network.
They should just raise the fares. Idiotic idea that will complicate ticketing and annoy the passengers. They better be prepared for more carry-on.
Hello Washington, DC.?? When does our superb “ENERGY POLICY” kick in here to reduce our depenedence on foreign oil?
Going to be sad to see the Mad Dogs start to disappear from both American and Delta, but they're just not as fuel-efficient as the newer larger regional jets and 737s.
}:-)4
For my business trip last week, I chose to fly instead of rent a car and drive because overall it would have been around $50 less (and my business unit has a tight budget), little moves like this would push me back to driving.
I am so sick of those people who think that a grand piano is carry on.
Spirit Airlines wanted to charge us 12.00 two weeks ago, for the first checked bag.
I flew to NYC on Northwest last week and it was a pretty good (uneventful) trip, even with the wife and kids.
But, I’m driving to Orlando this summer.
I don’t want the hassle or the $$$ expense of flying.
14+ hours should do it.
How long before the first person flying across the country who shares a suitcase their flying partner gets profiled as being a terrorist for not having luggage?
Looking back at the rules now we realize that they did announce the change, we just didn't look past our departure date, never thinking that since we had roundtrip tickets the change would effect us (our fault, not theirs)
Brilliant! Instead of just raising the fare $15, they act like they are just nickel & diming their clientele by charging for every conceivable thing other than the flight itself.
Even if they just added a ‘Fuel Surcharge’ it would at least be an honest attempt to pass along the costs and avoid total collapse - which is where they are heading right now.
I just had to fly roundtrip cross-country. Even in first class, US Airways cut back on virtually everything. They wouldn’t even give me an entire Diet Coke at one time and the entire plane (for a 6 hour flight) had 18 meals on it. Total. That was 12 for 1st class and 6 for the entire rest of the plane to purchase. Just literally stunning how badly they are mismanaging their industry.
Oh please. They must raise their prices to stay in business. Unless you want Chavaz (Obama ) to seize (nationalixe, regulate and you subsidize) the air flight of others. Get a grip.
Airlines want to have their cake and eat it too!
First it was “check bags and don’t hog the overhead bins.”
Now it’s “a single checked bag costs extra!”
Sorry airlines but travelers can’t and won’t travel with just the clothes on their backs.
Would it be madness to suggest that airline scrap their Chinese arithmetic method of pricing flights and simply charge for the distance covered, i.e., make it proportional to fuel and crew costs? Revolutionary I know but $800 for a 30 minute flight from Cincinnati to Chicago and $1300 from Dulles to London Heathrow makes no sense at all.
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