More Fees for Passengers?

As previously blogged, the air industry has started to charge for checking a second bag. According to an article from the Boston Globe, US Airways and JetBlue Airway Corp have taken it a step further and will be starting to implement additional fees. The fees that will be implemented would consist of charging for a pillow, blanket, headphones, even priority seating, a window seat and a seat that provides extra legroom. Such fees have already been in effect for Air Canada (where 45% of their domestic passengers paid additional fees in 2007) and European airline, Ryanair Ltd.


These new fees are becoming more common among airlines; the airlines are trying to compensate for the rising price in fuel. Starting today, US Airways will start charging at least $5 to passengers who want to reserve an aisle or window seat, if they are flying coach.

JetBlue has started to charge passengers $10 to $30 extra if they want to sit in rows that have a greater distance between the seats. According to the article, since this new option was introduced, JetBlue has “Doubled the amount of revenue [we] anticipated for the first year of [our] rollout”

At the beginning of June, JetBlue will also start charging $1 for headphones. These headphones will be of better quality than the complimentary ones and will only be available for purchase before boarding the plane. In June, JetBlue will start charging passengers if they want a pillow or an extra blanket. Similarly, the quality of the pillows and blankets will be better than the complimentary ones and they will be for the passengers to keep.

Apparently, these new fees are not making everyone shudder. Some people are still willing to fly. Some individuals think that their flying experience might be better, now that they can pick and choose the additional amenities they would like.