- Even if passengers aren't eager to celebrate, airlines are. The fees, born in 2008, helped financially desperate carriers stay aloft as the U.S. economy was spiraling down.
I tend not to mind baggage fees as I pack light and we should punish those jackasses that bring along two pieces of luggage on a weekend trip. However, baggage fees offer a dangerous precedent on how much an airline can screw you (looking at you and your bullshit carry-on fee, Spirit). If you gave me an airline that cost more but didn't play games with the passenger, I'd take it any day of the week over existing carriers. Fair and sensible pricing, no arcane fees to artificially push ticket prices lower, no shoving you into a cramped, shitty Regional Jet for what used to take a 757, meals and entertainment on most flights. What is keeping airlines from being profitable?
My first piece of advice to any airline would be to eliminate the complimentary beverages and meals. Offer water for free. If people want food or drink, have them buy it at a reasonable price. Who on earth looks forward to that crappy food or their free 4ounces of coke? It would cut costs and the labor of sloshing those carts up and down the aisle and cleaning up. I agree that I would pay more to not have to deal with much of the bureaucratic nonsense. Honestly though, most people these days don't even think about what airline they are flying, they just let some travel site find the cheapest rate. In that sense, your business plan would fail.
I really don't like flying domestic. It's expensive and the service seems worse every year. I don't mind paying for a quality flight experience, as one now expects from most Middle-Eastern airlines, or say, Thai Airways or Singapore Airlines. Not that I have the money to fly those airlines anymore, but with all the fees involved in domestic flight in the U.S. I rarely travel outside of driving distance these days anyway.
The domestic carriers are pretty bad, for the most part. I have been pleasantly surprised by the customer service of Southwest and Delta of late. SW has always been good with customer service but they're getting even better and Delta(NW) was always horrible. Now, I find them being far more congenial. My suggestion to anyone dealing with airline employees... you catch more flies with honey. It's a thankless job and the vast majority of people they deal with are complaining about circumstances outside of their direct control. One thing that sucks is that all of the airlines are now charging more money for exit row seating. I used to be able to show up early and request an exit row seat and get it nearly every time. Now they want $50 or something like that. -Airlines, like banks and almost all other service industries, have fully embraced fee-based revenue streams. Soon, they'll charge for the ability to use the bathroom :)
I'm a bit shocked to hear about Delta, because as you say, Delta has (in my experience) always been horrible. I mean, it wasn't Continental, but still. It seems ridiculous that airlines will charge people who volunteer to be responsible for the emergency exits, but then again, most people just want to sit there for the extra leg room. If they start charging to use the bathroom, I will feel compelled to answer the call of nature as publicly as possible. I'm curious though, as to why airlines had to resort to the current model when there are so many flights. I almost wish there were some kind of nationwide public air service, but I'm sure that I would complain about that too.
Yeah, not surprisingly I have it. I don't ever use it other than to get my free bags. It's $100 a year but it more than pays for itself.