American Airlines to Charge for Every Bag?

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It's got to be hard to run an airline in the USA, particularly one that has been around forever, and thus has heavy overhead costs. Throw in ridiculous fuel prices, and they're really in a pickle. But the one thing you can't do is irritate your customers so much that they choose to go elsewhere.

American Airlines is going to start charging for every piece of checked luggage, even if you only have one. Excuse me? Having taken a larger than usual number of flights over the last year, I'm familiar with the security drill. Besides having to remove my shoes, my belt, my watch, my computer, and hobbling around trying to get dressed and put back together, there is the issue of liquids. This idiotic rule holds that you cannot take more than 3 oz. of a liquid in carry-on luggage. So, even though I used to try to avoid checked baggage, I now put my toiletry kit into my checked baggage. But now, at least on American, that will cost me $15.

Whining about that may be a bit selfish considering American's coming layoffs, but unless American is joined by all or most other airlines with this plan, they're going to have problems.

[Excerpt]

American to charge $15 for 1st checked bag

American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers -- probably in the thousands -- as the nation's largest carrier grapples with record-high fuel prices.

American plans to cut domestic flight capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter, after the peak summer season is over. The carrier was previously planning a 4.6 percent cut. . .

Read more at: Yahoo! News