Thoughts on airline baggage fees and taxes

For those choosing to travel by commercial airline, whether for business, pleasure, or for personal matters, the past decade has been marked by a flood of inconvenient policy changes implemented by leaders in the airline industry. With security threats, weather delays, and flight cancellations overwhelming the mainstream travel conversation, an infuriating phenomenon has occurred directly under our collective noses. These pesky “baggage taxes,” which popped up in response to high gas prices in 2008, have effectively gouged travelers out of billions of dollars over the past three years. In addition, traditionally included amenities, such as beverage service and snacks, are disappearing in favor of increasingly expensive, nickel and dime styled “a la carte” cabin services.

On top of the baggage and a la carte fees, the airline industry taxes its customers at a rate that averages nearly 20% of the cost of a ticket to fly. The average cost in taxes for a $300 dollar flight is approximately $65, which when you add that to the cost of checking bags, makes traveling by air in 2010 a modern day exercise in being ripped off. Consider that as of today there are four separate taxes on a typical flight within the United States. There’s the standard 7.5% Federal Ticket (Excise) Tax, which should really be where the taxes end, the Passenger Facility Charge, the Federal Flight Segment Tax, and the Federal Security Surcharge. All of these taxes are applied at the time of purchase, adding a sting to any great deal one might find online or through a travel agent.

To make matters worse, the increasing bag fees and taxes only mark the beginning of the hollowing out of the intrinsic value of a plane ticket. For example, Spirit Airlines is pondering charging for carry-on baggage, and Ryanair, based out of Dublin, Ireland is planning to charge 1 Euro or 1 British Pound (about $1.33 or $1.52) for using the bathroom on flights lasting one hour or less. If, as was the case with checked baggage fees, other airlines follow suit and start charging for every amenity in the cabin, there will be a huge devaluation to the value of a ticket. The ticket used to mean a beverage and a meal, and one bag checked with no charge, now the only aspect of travel covered by an airline ticket is the travel itself. Only a few airlines, such as Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue, seem to truly value their mission statements, and the implicit services that should come with the price of a ticket.

Going forward, other airlines need to take a hard look at what they stand for. Are they just buses in the air, with peddlers for crews? Or is quality of service still important? Do they value the experience of the passenger, or just the zero’s on their bottom lines? Is a once great industry becoming trivialized by the in air gimmicks of its leading airlines? Going forward, the future of the airlines depends on their willingness to return to an era where the trust of the customer matters. As is the case with many aspects of our society, the time has come to end the worst practices of the airline industry.