The Heaviest Baggage Fee Collector: US Airways Stands Out

[FutureUScapt]

It would appear your daughter is an elite with AA and, like US and the other airlines charging bag fees, doesn't get charged for this service. So, that's an apples to apples comparison.

But why compare apples to apples, when you could compare apples to oranges to make US look worse?

The reality is, as the article does state (but is being overlooked here for the most part) is that because US is more of a domestic carrier, and one with numerous short-haul flights at that, it stands to gain more from checked baggage fees than, say CO. And while it is likely true that CO/UA have a higher % of exempt elite travelers, I doubt the writer of the article has data from each airline showing what percentage of total pax are FFrs.

 

[fudgerunyard]

Or, another way of looking at it as an average baggage fee per passenger.. (total bag fees/passengers emplaned)

US $56.85
DL $39.93
AA $23.07

Yup...US is reaping over 100% more than AA and about 50% more than DL on a per passenger basis. That should send LCC's stock soaring.

Impressive...in a time when airlines are not able to raise prices, you have an airline that has managed to collect nearly $57 more per passenger.

Gotta make it up somehow with all the former LCC FF'ers who've moved onto greener pastures. Now LCC has resorted to nickel and diming ma' and pa' kettle, who have little discretionary income to begin with. My guess is 'ma and 'pa kettle will also take their business elsewhere when they find out LCC is overpriced and yet underwhelming.

 

[28L_or_10R?]

Links for baggage fees:

US Airways
American Airlines
Delta
United
AirTran
JetBlue
First bag free, second $30, third bag $75 per bag
Air Canada (US/Canada flights) 2 free bags, over 2 bags $100 per bag

Note that the requirements at all these carriers are pretty much the same. Just a sign of the times.

Personally, I believe that our agents at the ticket counter are just more adept at collecting fees as there are consequences and repercussions if they fail to collect. :mf_boff:

 

[SolidCactus]

Impressive? I'd like to see the average fare paid at the others who have kept their elites in place compared to US whose elites have bailed. I'm sure CO is happy to take my A fare to DEN next week rather than the baggage fee.

See, what US did wrong was pushing us over to CO and WN. Does US have any idea how much more it costs us to fly on CO? And how much more we're willing to pay to fly on CO?

On the legs I travel, a FC upgrade is virtually impossible even as a Platinum. CO has done an amazing job of upgrading on the "highest fare" and not the "highest status" but their FC is totally worth paying for.

When I fly CO, I will pay $500 for the Y or B fare. I wont pay it at US.

Also, i just flew a 733 last week at CO. That plane was older than dirt. I looked at the certificate and its airworthy date was 1986. It was so clean inside. I couldnt believe the age of the plane. I always look at that air vent on the ceiling. On US this vent looks like it was last cleaned in 1999. Its amazing how much attention passengers pay to the smallest things...

 

[FWAAA]

Here is how they do it......

AA 1Q Enplanements : 4,680.7
DL 1Q Enplanements: 2,579.0
US 1Q Enplanements: 1,653.3

Pax in 1,000's

Yes, AA collected 13% more fees, but the carried 3X more traffic in 1Q of 2009. DL collected 10% more in fees while carrying 50% more traffic. When you look at CO it gets even worse.

Your numbers are wrong. I couldn't even discern where you got those numbers to try to explain your error.

For 1Q2009:

AA enplanements: 24.4 million (including regionals)
US enplanements: 14.2 million (including express)

US' bag fee performance is impressive, and is due mainly to the absence of elites and the much lower reliance on international routes (bag fees are waived at AA for elites and for all international pax - I assume the same is true at US).

Your faulty data formed the basis of PHL's calculations, which are also in error.

 

[FWAAA]

Or, another way of looking at it as an average baggage fee per passenger.. (total bag fees/passengers emplaned)

US $56.85
DL $39.93
AA $23.07

Yup...US is reaping over 100% more than AA and about 50% more than DL on ahe per passenger basis. That should send LCC's stock soaring.

Impressive...in a time when airlines are not able to raise prices, you have an airline that has managed to collect nearly $57 more per passenger.

Unfortunately, you relied on some faulty data.

The actual average bag fees per enplaned passenger are:

US $6.63
AA $4.43

I'm too lazy to look up DL's actual enplaned passengers for 1Q2009, but it's sure as hell more than 2,579,000. That's a little more than a week's worth of enplanements at Delta.

To be sure, it's impressive that US collected 50% more per pax in baggage fees than AA in the first quarter. But $57 per pax? The stock certainly would soar if Doug Parker were capable of that. $6.63? Nobody's gonna notice.

 

[BoeingBoy]

AA enplanements: 24.4 million (including regionals)
US enplanements: 14.2 million (including express)

Actually, that still understates enplanements. The monthly traffic reports, which is where I assume this number came from, gives Express enplanements for PSA and Piedmont only - total enplanements per the 1st quarter report were 18.4 million.

Jim

 

[longing4piedmont]

Your numbers are wrong. I couldn't even discern where you got those numbers to try to explain your error.

Yep. Picked up 1Q international only....
Does sorta skew the numbers doesn't it


http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2009/bts...9.html#table_02

However the premise stays the same. US leads the pack per pax on baggage fees which was the basis of the original question

 

[PHL]

Unfortunately, you relied on some faulty data.

The actual average bag fees per enplaned passenger are:

US $6.63
AA $4.43

I should have gone and checked the numbers because it seemed a bit off that US could manage to collect that much per average passenger when you consider that many carry on. If even 25% of the passengers carried on their bags, that would leave the other 75% to cover those fees, jacking up the average price paid per enplanement *with checked bags*.

But, the original premise is still correct - US collects more per passenger than any other airline. At least, based on these new numbers.

 

[BoeingBoy]

But, the original premise is still correct - US collects more per passenger than any other airline.

You are correct - just the magnitude of the differences change. Here's the best numbers I can find. Note that DL/NW report combined traffic numbers in the monthly report while the BTS gives separate baggage fee revenue numbers due to the two operating certificates, so I've added the revenue numbers together since the passenger numbers are combined. Also note, as I mentioned earlier, that US monthly traffic numbers only include the PSA & Piedmont Express numbers. So I've used the number of passengers from the 1st quarter report as it includes the entire Express operation.

US $094.2 million, 18.4 million pax, $5.12/pax
DL $162.6 million, 37.3 million pax, $4.36/pax
AA $108.1 million, 24.4 million pax, $4.43/pax
CO $056.6 million, 14.4 million pax, $3.93/pax
UA $059.1 million, 18.7 million pax, $3.16/pax

Jim

 

[wench1]

Solid Cactus,

CO has cleaners,, US has theirs CONTRACTED OUT!+= Saving $$$$--and it shows..

At our station we have more supervisors then we NEED!!!

We should have returned to the old days- 3 supervisors..
1 Am
1 Pm
and 1 Relief..that's it..if the head count is OVER there is the number..they are the biggest waste .CAN you say DEADWOOD?

 

[jerseyfinn]

Yes, AA collected 13% more fees, but the carried 3X more traffic in 1Q of 2009. DL collected 10% more in fees while carrying 50% more traffic. When you look at CO it gets even worse.

So the argument here seems to be that because US is clever enough to "mine out" additional revenue ( exempting elites of course ) that this is a "bad" thing or even deceptive or maybe even amoral or if none of the above, it proves that US is still a loser because the elites of today who enjoy this perk are not the same elites of US yesteryear during the "good old days". Then again, revenue and profits are proclaimed as being "clever" or "resourceful" when it is someone else's company, just so long as it is not an airline, especially US.

Hey, we just picked up great fares in the Fall to MAD ($196 each way ). Is this deception or bad business or is it a measure of the contemporary times we live in at this moment . . . and it could very well all flip on it's head in a matter of months. I just don't see this as a big deal, though it is surprising that Tempe finally appears to have gotten efficient at something. More useful would be to ponder how long this dank flying environment will persist, where fuel costs will ratchet, and which airline(s) might finally wilt under the intense pressure of recession & competition in an aviaiton industry which remains dysfunctional along with the government which oversees it.

Barry

 

[longing4piedmont]

So the argument here seems to be that because US is clever enough to "mine out" additional revenue

No, the argument is that US has chased away dollars to pick up pennies.........

 

[SolidCactus]

Solid Cactus,

CO has cleaners,, US has theirs CONTRACTED OUT!+= Saving $$$$--and it shows..

At our station we have more supervisors then we NEED!!!

We should have returned to the old days- 3 supervisors..
1 Am
1 Pm
and 1 Relief..that's it..if the head count is OVER there is the number..they are the biggest waste .CAN you say DEADWOOD?

Sad... Maybe they should remove supervisors and invest in cleaning crew. Or make the supervisors clean the planes, muhahaha...

 

[FWAAA]

However the premise stays the same. US leads the pack per pax on baggage fees which was the basis of the original question

Uh, Not necessarily.

AA exempts all elites, all purchased premium fares and all international passengers (where international is defined as anything outside 50 states, PR, USVI and Canada).

US exempts all elites, all purchased premium fares and passengers to Europe and Asia.

Elites and Premium fares are constants, but the varying exemptions of international passengers are not

Ignoring elites, AA collects a little over $5 per passenger of the passengers not exempted. Same for US. With both, you have to subtract the exempt international passengers. Both airlines collect a little over $5 per eligible passenger.

The point of the original article (the WSJ blog entry) was the very large yoy percentage increase in bag fees at US. That point remains valid. The other attempts to paint US as more adept than other airlines at collecting bag fees - well, the data don't support those.

But, the original premise is still correct - US collects more per passenger than any other airline. At least, based on these new numbers.

Sort of. US collects more per absolute passenger, but if the exempt passengers are excluded, the amounts collected by US and AA are about the same. I'd imagine that if the exempt passengers are excluded from the other legacy airline numbers, the results would be similar.

Actually, that still understates enplanements. The monthly traffic reports, which is where I assume this number came from, gives Express enplanements for PSA and Piedmont only - total enplanements per the 1st quarter report were 18.4 million.

Ahh, thanks. 🙂

That got me to wondering if the bag fee totals in the WSJ blog entry include the amounts collected by American Eagle and, for US, all of its express and regionals.