September 03, 2009
As frustrating as air travel has gotten in recent years, there's something particularly galling about how far certain carriers have taken the nickel-and-diming of passengers. The latest news from the wild blue yonder is that Southwest Airlines is now offering - for an extra $10 - an opportunity to cut in the passenger boarding line.
That's right. Beginning Wednesday, Southwest started selling $10 cuts. Pay the money on top of a one-way fare and you get "EarlyBird Check-in," which simply means you get to board early (after business class and other favored few but before the riffraff majority).
The Texas-based, no-frills airline doesn't offer reserved seating, so getting to the plane before most others is the next best thing. Passengers can choose any unoccupied seat they'd like: aisle, window, or perhaps even something with a bit of leg room.
These are tough days for the airline industry. The economic downturn and high fuel costs have hit carriers hard. Net losses were estimated to be about $6 billion for the first half of the year, and Southwest has actually been slower to adopt nuisance fees than most of its competitors. The company still doesn't charge extra for a checked bag, for instance, a rarity that may yet earn it the Nobel Peace Prize.
But $10 for cuts, particularly when a passenger can simply check in by computer up to 24 hours ahead of time and get a favorable place in the boarding line? We think that's unlikely to generate serious revenue.
So as a public service, not only to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport's largest carrier but to all those airlines flying the not-so-friendly skies, here are some "extras" for which we suspect most passengers would happily pay $10 more:
* A jet serviced with quality parts. The Federal Aviation Administration may have decided not to ground 10 percent of Southwest's fleet for using unauthorized parts, but who wouldn't pay a bit extra for the assurance that you aren't flying in an almost-grounded plane?
* The option to get off a stranded plane. Until Congress passes the so-called Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, the latest horror story, the Continental Airlines jet left on the tarmac in Rochester, Minn., for six hours last month, is enough to get anyone to cough up a bit more not to get similarly trapped.
* Decent treatment. No ticket counter lines longer than a football field, no sardines-in-a-can seating arrangements, courteous employees, clean cabins, working restrooms - all the stuff airlines used to offer back in the day.
* No lost or mishandled checked baggage. Handcuff the valise to an airline employee if necessary, but get it to the appropriate destination.
* Fellow passengers who dress and behave appropriately. Perhaps some sort of basic decency test would have to be imposed.
* No flight delays of any kind. Impossible in these overcrowded times? Perhaps, but for only $10, it's worth a shot on the off chance it could happen.
