It’s Our Fault Revisited: More Airline Fees

United becomes the first major airline to charge for use of the overhead bins. Perhaps optional pressurization is next.

I know it's fashionable to decry flying on the airlines as the mass transportation equivalent of a slave ship, but I've trained myself to tune out the insults and degradations of airline travel. The airlines usually get you there at a fare less than you can fly yourself over the same distance. That's just economic reality.

And although I shouldn't be, I was still a little surprised when United announced this week that it will start charging passengers to stow baggage in the overheads. Or, to be more accurate, the airline will offer a discount fare class that allows no carry-on bags except what will fit under the seat. When the Titanic sailed, this was called steerage, but United calls it Basic Economy.

I was amused in reading how United spun this one in a press release. I'll give you the corporate-speak text and then translate for you. "Customers have told us they want more choice and Basic Economy delivers just that." Translation: "We've discovered one more way to squeeze revenue out of passengers, formerly known as customers, but now known as variable yield data points."

From the press release: "We are giving our customers an additional travel option from what United offers today." Translation: "We think it's a terrific option (for us) to have passengers pay extra fees for everything. Pretty soon, we're going to enhance the value experience by making pressurization optional."

I dunno, maybe United will hit pay dirt with this idea. Essentially, what they're trying to do is to compete with the super discounters like Spirit and Allegiant. The last time they tried doing this, it didn't work very well. Remember TED? It was supposed to be United's low-cost airline within an airline to compete with Southwest and JetBlue. It died a slow death, as did Delta's version of the same idea: Song. (Even Delta's CEO at the time quipped that it was probably Swan Song.) Southwest and JetBlue succeeded because they have low costs and efficient operations. United and Delta less so.

But United is right about one thing: Customers are getting what they say they want, which is cheap fares. The democratization of airline flying has been driven by bargain-seeking ticket buyers and every other misery related to airline flying flows from that: insanely short seat pitch, fees for everything, short-staffed service counters, long security lines, no more peanuts, usurious change fees and so on.

We won't know the numbers on these fares until early next year, when United announces them. I can't help but suspect the passenger who foregoes a carry-on and then must check a bag at $25 per will do better by just taking the regular fare that allows the overhead stowage, then skip the checked bag. The airlines haven't exactly been doing us favors on the value equation and they'll build fares that favor their bottom line, not the passenger's.

If you pay attention to this stuff much, you may have noticed that late in the summer, American Airlines launched a series of ads that basically said as much, telling customers to just suck it up and develop a better attitude. Screeching babies? Get a noise-canceling headset. Long, slow lines? Walk faster and be nicer to the person behind you. Also, pack like your suitcase is a "jigsaw puzzle." One ad said the ideal flier is "always upbeat … and makes the best of their situation no matter where they're sitting." In other words, if you're sitting in front a reeking lav that hasn't been cleaned in two days, too bad. Not our problem. American's ads dispensed with any pretense of customer appreciation.

No surprise then that United finished last in J.D. Power's airline rankings last year. American moved up to the middle of the pack. Delta was closer to the top. Wichita State University's Airline Quality Rating put Virgin America at the top and discounter Spirit at the bottom of 13 airlines surveyed. United was eighth, American 10th.

Power's survey found that passengers are becoming more accepting of unbundled fees and maybe that's true, but I'm one passenger who hasn't. I wouldn't get on a Spirit or Allegiant flight if someone paid me because I'm not willing to suffer both the seat pitch and the overhead baggage charges. I'd rather pay more on the basic fare, thanks. Also, those two airlines don't have as many airplanes as the majors so if something breaks, they offer fewer if any solutions. Sure enough, unbeknownst to me, my wife booked a trip to Baltimore from Sarasota on Spirit. The airplane broke on the way back and the only solution was an overnight stay commencing at 10 a.m. She found a Delta flight to get home, so the trip cost much more than it would have if she had flown Delta in the first place.

Personally, I've tilted toward Southwest recently. No bag fees whether overhead or baggage hold, no change fees and refundable tickets. Plus the cabin and customer service is just friendlier. Southwest, by the way, is a low-cost carrier, but that doesn't always mean low fares. Out of Florida, they're often a little more than the other majors, but the value is higher, in my view. I guess while I wasn't looking, I stopped being a price buyer. If enough other people do the same, maybe flying the airlines would become civilized again and we can all just naturally develop that sunny attitude American Airlines says we should have.