Trickle Down Baggage Fees?

Just as the airlines have done a good job of hiding those pesky baggage fees from the passengers who pay them, they have also managed to hide the amount of money they were raking in from those fees from all of us.  Until now, of course.  Media reports just in put the amounts at billions of dollars.  And add ticket change fees to the gross and there’s a few billion more that airlines are stockpiling. That’s an awful lot of money for an industry used to crying poverty and forcing employees, suppliers and all manner of contractors –including GSE providers – to do more with less.  And I’m not minimizing the financial hit airlines took after 9/11 and most recently with the economic downturn.  But now that they’ve found a way to make money, isn’t it time for some of it to trickle down? While it’s obvious some airports continue to maintain and even upgrade their GSE, it’s just as obvious that quite a number of GSE providers are not.  The impact of improperly maintained equipment on operations – and safety of workers – is not a matter to be discounted.  So when it’s time to negotiate contracts – or re-negotiate them – it might be worthwhile to get the latest data on how much the baggage your hauling is really bringing in for the airlines! A final word of thanks to our editor, Lisa Haddican.  It has been a pleasure to work with you.  I wish you the best in your future endeavors.