Business travel
Airline charges
Pay more to sit up front
Sep 7th 2010, 17:08 by A.H. | TORONTO
AIRLINES routinely charge passengers for checked bags, pillows, “food” and a whole lot of other amenities that used to be free. And now it seems there's a new fee in town: a charge for seats in the first two or three rows of economy, including the bulkhead seats. In August American Airlines announced it would start demanding $19-$39 for these Express Seats, which allow passengers on domestic services to get on the plane in the first “general boarding” call and disembark a few seconds before those unlucky travellers right behind them. American's Elite frequent flyers can get the seats at no extra charge, but everyone else has to buy them at airport kiosks, 24 hours to 50 minutes before the flight.
American might be in need of some extra cash. In late August the Federal Aviation Authority levied a record $24.2m civil penalty against the airline for operating planes in 2008 that allegedly did not meet federal regulations. American is to challenge the fine. “These events happened more than two years ago, and we believe this action is unwarranted,” the company said in a statement. “We plan to follow the FAA’s process and will challenge any proposed civil penalty. We are confident we have a strong case and the facts will bear this out.”
When the FAA notified American of some maintenance irregularities, the airline temporarily grounded its MD-80 fleet to conduct new inspections and redo maintenance work as required. This resulted in more than 3,000 flight cancellations and cost American tens of millions of dollars, according to Gerard Arpey, the CEO. The airline says that passenger safety was never at risk. But Gulliver wonders how much longer it will be before people have to pay extra to sit near an emergency exit.
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Readers' comments
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I would pay more if I could eject from the emergency exit door or from somehwere with my parachute equipment whenever I want...but... what about the other passengers. of course I am just kidding.
for united, they have something called "economy plus" which has 5" more legroom (or so they say). it is definitely more comfortable, elite passengers get it for free.
United already has the charge for these "special" seats and with the merger Continental will. Note that elite fliers are also exempt from the charge.
It is all about money!
Virgin Atlantic charges for the emergency row seat as well.
Great - let them charge more - I avoid the bulkhead seats as you can't stretch your legs (I'm 5' 10"). And you have that damn curtain flapping in our face. If you disembark (or is that deplane?) to a bus (as at my home airport - Iraklion), then strategic positioning at the correct bus exit door means that no matter where I sit on the plane , 90% of the time I am first out of the terminal.
"Express Seats, which allow passengers on domestic services to get on the plane in the first “general boarding” call and disembark a few seconds before those unlucky travellers right behind them. "
On a recent domestic flight in the USA passengers took so long struggling to get their oversize "wheelies" down from the overhead bins that there was time for 5 cleaners to get down to row 12 before I could start moving out from row 17 ! The effect of penny-pinching charging for checked luggage !
Tip - if entering the USA get your international airline to check your bag through to domestic destination - they will probably not charge you the domestic checked bag fee.
I like the last line, too.
Air France also already charges extra for emergency seats on long-haul flights. I'm pretty sure this will be standard practice within a year or two - unfortunately...
While the last line is good for a laugh, I'm afraid you're giving airlines too good of an idea.
Air Asia has been charging for more than two years to sit next to emergency exit has they provide more legroom. As long as you pas I have seen people with babies sitting there. Aftger taking of , I have been prohibited to change seats towards an emergency exit although I am a pilot and would know how to operate it. Profit before safety