Airline costs

[ameval]

I dunno if you guys have already noticed but nowadays everything in the airlines costs money, at least in North America.... American
Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, Northwest Airways are charging $15 for each baggage. Delta charges $50 for the second baggage if
Im not wrong... then erm some other are freaking charging for the water cup, or the cokes...... and also for the blanckets.....

What I mean with this post is, whats going on?? everything is higher, pretty much everything costs money.... is this gonna stay like that?
hopefully not

[Atlantic Airways]

Hmm.. Here they only charge for it if The Baggage is weiging more than 20 Kg!

Ofcourse the Ticket

But the Onboard beverages i don't understand ??

[Navymmw]

they are chargeing so much extra money because of fuel cost's. Once they go down(which the actully are, slowly though) they will probely
stop.

[ameval]

ya I know fuel costs have been going down since 3 weeks already, but news says that it will go back up or so... well Im flying back to US
on the 25th of this month so We'll see how much I have to spend

[SkyAirWorld]

They wont stop...

It very unlikely they will stop...

They have a new source of income!

I hope they stop, but I cant see it...

[Cydon Prax]

The fuel is going down now, but, it always does that around now. It'll be back up; airlines are already trying to combat the fuel which has
risen astronomically in the past few years. I remember when Continental said they would fall under if the fuel price for Jet A went above
$100 per barrel. Apparantly that number is at ~$150 right now, and although American and Southwest managed to pull out a decent profit
for last year, it doesn't look too good for this and the following years.

In reality, airplanes weren't meant to make money when fuel prices cost more than the passengers and baggages' worth. These airlines
are trying to sell their product as cheap as possible, but the cost for providing their planes greatly outmatches that income, and most
airlines right now are sitting their considering options as they chew up their reserve dollars, hoping fuel prices drop or they come up with
a plan before they run out of money in their savings.

I wouldn't worry too much, though. Airlines have been loosing business, raising prices, and throwing away pilots and crew since they
were created; the market always seems to bounce back long enough for a breather.

[Joeflyer]

Yep, it's all about the economy. Airlines are always affected by the economy, so in an economic downturn, they all have to be creative on
ways to curb expenses. In the cargo business, we are always looking for ways to save $$ even during economic boons. Even when the
price of oil takes a fall, this is not quickly reflected at the pump. The only way N. America is going to see any significant fuel price relief in
the future is to drill for more oil and build new refineries. I can guarantee you the Airlines will benefit hugely from this in the future...as will
N. America as a whole.

[ameval]

ya thats true Joe, I'd say we start making electric cars to save oil for the planes

[lassombra]

Just a little input from a Customer Service / Ramp Service Agent for Northwest Airlines...

In two days, our fee for the first checked bag goes into effect. At first, almost all of us where vehemently against it. But it makes sense in a
certain way. The cost of carrying a bag used to be included in the actual ticket price. However, raising the ticket prices is just not a viable
option anymore as sites such as Travelocity, CheapTickets, Orbitz, and Expedia have made the competition between airlines absolutely fierce. However,
those sites neglect to tell the passenger about the "true" cost of their travel, only the cost of their ticket.

Northwest Airlines is actually taking two approaches to this problem. The first is to maintain a stock of "super saver" fares for each flight. The
earlier you book, the more likely you are to get one of them. These fares have no included baggage, minimal inflight services, and we charge you for
some of the more favorable seats on the airplane.

Second is to increase the cost of standard fares. These fares DO include baggage, include, in some cases, better inflight services, and have free
access to the more favorable seats on the airplane.

So the real reason for the charge for everything is that it is essential to keep our lowest reported ticket price way way down, thanks to the easy
comparison between airlines. It is impossible for any of the mainstream airlines to raise their saver fares because it would put them higher than
their competitors, which is actually a problem when the average Joe can see which is cheaper.

Do I agree with it? No. I think that Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, and CheapTickets are all blights on the Aviation Industry. They don't tell
anyone the whole story, they often fail to properly record a reservation, and they more or less force airlines to work with them or be left without a
large market. If such sites didn't exist, or at least told the real story ("Your ticket is $400. You will have to pay $30 dollars for the bags you
are checking. You will have to pay $10 dollars to get the seats you want. You will have to pay $...). Then when the users went to such a site, they
could put in how many bags each member would be checking, how heavy those bags will be, how many carryons they plan on having, etc. And then they'd
get the real story, and different companies really could merge those prices back into the tickets. When more than 90% of passengers check luggage, it
doesn't make sense to have a separate fee for it.

[Joeflyer]

ameval wrote:
ya thats true Joe, I'd say we start making electric cars to save oil for the planes

Actually, the solution is very simple and more economical and efficient....DRILL for freak'n oil

[gronji2004]

Ryanair now charges you for paying online using any card (£8) and also Priortiy Boarding which used to be free if you book online now costs £8 aswell!

Easy way to make money I say

[SkyAirWorld]

How about leaving the Drilling alone, either way we will run out of Oil

When Kangaroo Island in South Australia had its fires, because of "Elvis" and some other planes flying around water bombing, aswell as
RPT's and Charters etc, Adelaide Airport was well below what it needed to remain sustained in both Jet A1 and AVGAS, and the next
shipment wasnt comming in for close to 3 weeks I think...

We need to work out conserving oil, and fuel efficient planes, which is already being done......

(and no I am not a green-y, but I dont want to see Aviation fade to black.....)