US Air, Parched for Cash, Charges for Drinks
Ted Reed
08/07/08 - 10:03 AM EDT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Passenger Mike Stollenwerk thinks
US Airways'(LCC Quote) $2 charge for water or soda is all wet.
Stollenwerk discovered the charge, part of a trial run started on Friday, while returning home to Alexandria, Va. on US Airways flight Aug. 4, after a visit to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. "US Airways demanded $2 for a drink, even water," he says. "I was outraged and refused to order my usual beer. I specifically asked if I could get tap water for free and the steward said 'No.'
"I am going to try not to fly US Airways if I can help it," Stollenwerk continues. "Everybody knows that you should hydrate on an airplane."
Mike Flores, president of the US Airways chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants says responses like Stollenwerk's are typical.
"The usual customer reaction is basically a look of disgust," he says. "Then they roll their eyes and say 'I'm not buying anything.'"
The charge, $2 for soda or bottled water and $1 for coffee or tea, was implemented as part of a trial run that began Aug. 1. While other carriers have began charging for other amenities -- like
Jet Blue's(JBLU Quote) announcement earlier this week that it
would charge passengers for pillows and blankets -- so far, no other major carrier has matched the drink charge.
That raises questions about whether the charge will continue, since US Airways cannot continue indefinitely as the only major carrier that charges for drinks. Certainly, others are watching the experiment closely to determine whether customers begin to book away from US Airways, or whether they come to accept the charge.
US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant says that so far, the response from passengers has been underwhelming.
"While it's still very early in the program and we don't have a lot of meaningful hard data yet, the anecdotes coming in by and large indicate that customers understand why we need to do this," Durrant says. "There have been complaints from customers to our customer relations team but in rather small quantities."
Meanwhile, US Airways will retain its "extended onboard delay procedure," which provides that flight attendants offer free drinks to passengers in the event of runway flight delays that exceed 30 minutes. The policy specifies that orange juice, coffee and water should be offered free before 10 a.m., while soft drinks or water should be offered after 10 a.m. The danger, Flores says, is that if the airline reduces drink provisions, it could easily run out of drinks in the event that it provides them free.
Some flight attendants have applauded the program, Durrant said, based on the realization that the carrier needs to raise revenue to combat sharply higher fuel prices, which boosted second-quarter costs by $390 million. The airline says new fees and charges will add $400 million to $500 million in annual revenue, but has not broken out the revenue from drink sales.
US Airways is one of several airlines -- including
American(AMR Quote),
United(UAUA Quote) and
Northwest(NWA Quote) -- to have implemented a $15 fee for checking a single bag.
Appearing on
CNBC on Tuesday, US Airways CEO Doug Parker said airlines "need to change the model" to a la carte pricing if they are to survive the fuel cost surge. The drink charge is warranted, he said, because it "is one where those who want to use a service can pay for it." For an airline, it costs about $2 to have caterers provision a plane with a can of soda, and then to fly the soda around until someone drinks it, he said.
