How Long Can Airline Bag Fees Carry On?

At the moment, the first bag fee is in place at four of the seven biggest carriers. In mid-July, Northwest became the fourth to impose it, joining American, United(UAUA Quote) and US Airways(LCC Quote).

However, Continental(CAL Quote) remains a holdout while it continues to evaluate the charge.

"We watch customer reaction," said CEO Larry Kellner, on an earnings conference call this month. In particular, he said, the carrier wants to see if travelers "don't distinguish between carriers charging and not charging," or if they book away from carriers who have a first bag fee.

If the former is true, "we can't afford a $30 fare differential," Kellner said, speaking of the round-trip implication of a $15 fee."Economically, that will put a lot of pressure on us." But if customers look elsewhere, then the charge could be doomed. Continental might choose not to impose one, and the Northwest experiment would likely conclude at some point after the merger with Delta is complete. In that case, it would be tough for just three airlines to retain it.

Kellner also said a first bag charge involves "operational challenges." At US Airways, which imposed the charge for tickets purchased on and after July 9, the extent of the challenges remains unclear. Airline spokesman Morgan Durrant says that so far, the carrier has not seen any noticeable change in passenger behavior, but it expects to as more fliers are affected. US Airways plans to train airport agents to manage those changes.

However, Mike Flores, president of the US Airways chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants, says disruptions are already occurring.

"We are seeing people bring more and bigger carry-on items on board, or bring two Rollaboards," Flores says. "Obviously, they won't all fit in the bins, so they pile up on the floor. That forces flight attendants to be bag police, and it causes delays when agents have to come to the airplanes and write tags."

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