Why are airlines charging for checked baggage but not carry-on bags?
Checked bags require a lot more infrastructure than carry ons. For example: • The tracking infrastructure to tag the bags, track lost bags, etc. • Conveyors to get them down to the aircraft. • Tractors to transfer bags during connections. • Conveyors to get them back to baggage claim.Lost/delayed bags also have to be delivered to their owners. Claims have to be taken, responded to and settled. You could argue that a lot of it is sunk cost, but there is still a fair amount of incremental cost. Administration of carry on bag fees would also be difficult. That alone could slow down boarding. (Which is part of the reason they don’t charge for bags checked at the plane.) Checked bag fees are all part of unbundling of services that used to be included in the ticket price — services such as curbside check in, food, phone ticketing. The checked bag fees also the airlines to provide value to their frequent fliers by then waiving the fees.They also promote their co-branded credit cards in this
This was just in the news. Spirit Airlines recently proposed charging for carry-on luggage and received a stunning amount of public outrage, and the opportunity for some legislative grandstanding: http://www.businessweek.com/news… Which of course brought a number of other airlines into the fray, all solemnly swearing no new carry-on charges: http://www.sevensidedcube.net/wo… So a simple answer to your question as to why airlines don’t charge for carry-on is that we, as consumers, have demanded it 🙂 The whole thing is kind of a farce. If any legislation goes through, it should be to provide means for the customer to know exactly what he is going to pay when he purchases his ticket, which I think is what you’re getting at. If sites like Expedia could let users sort by real, final price, no one would be surprised or annoyed.
