The Everywhere blog

As if the airline industry needed any more fuel to stoke the already burning ire of passengers the world over, American Airlines has gone and announced that it will start charging customers $15 for their first checked bag, beginning June 15. The airline company claims the new nickel-and-diming effort is part of a larger strategy to combat skyrocketing fuel prices.

The airline also plans on squeezing dollars out of passengers by implementing fees for the handling of oversized bags and that ever-so superfluous task of making reservations.

It's great news to hear the airline industry is going to target its already paying customers for the redonkulously soaring fuel prices, rather than put pressure on elected officials to do something about obviously lacking regulations regarding the importation of fuel. It's even better news that customers get more fees without any kind of trade-offs. Please note the ironic tone here.

It's one thing for an airline (or any company for that matter) to reevaluate how its doing business in a time when the country's economy is sliding quite rapidly down the tubes. Or for that matter, how a company can make itself more competitive by completely revamping its image and practices. Most businesses and industries are probably take a long hard look in the mirror these days (eh-hem, mortgage companies) and making very difficult decisions to quickly combat the United States' sinking economy.

What makes American Airlines' latest scheme so damn annoying, however, is charging customers $15 for the first bag is a whole lotta inconvenience without any real incentives. The penny pinching underway at American Airlines isn't about saving its customers money. It's only about saving American Airlines money. This isn't about American Airlines transitioning into a value airline, such as Spirit or Southwest. Fare prices will remain essentially the same, meaning in the long-run, customers will be paying more to enjoy the status quo.

Not only that, passengers are already hollered at quite vociferously by flight attendants for trying to fit stuff into the overhead bins. Guess what? Charging them for their first bag is just going to mean more headaches at take-off.

How this is going to secure American Airlines (and for that matter the airlines that will undoubtedly start doing the same darn thing) more business or customer loyalty is a huge question that someone obviously overlooked. C'mon, give your passengers some credit. They pay good money to fly your airline, and they aren't so bowled over by your free beverage service and pretzels that they won't shop around for a better deal, especially in light of the growing number of travel search engines dedicated to finding people better deals.

(Image above by Everywhere member Alana Jackson)