Priced To Sell? Up In The Air(fare)

When you fly to a destination, how should you pay the airline for getting you there? What are your suggestions for improving the flying experience (especially for those traveling in Coach) while charging passengers fairly for the opportunity to get places fast? (Post your comments below after reading the balance of this story).


Should the airline add up the cost of fuel, wages for the crew, cost to rent the plane, food and water carried on board, and then add taxes and a percentage for profit and divvy the cost up evenly between the passengers on the flight? Or should the airline figure out what each passenger "consumed", then tack on something for "tax and tip", making each passenger pay their own freight? Recent announcements by Spirit Airlines about imposing fees on carry-on bags that won't fit below a seat and by Ryanair about plans to charge passengers to use restrooms in-flight are two of the more controversial ways that airlines have approached answering these questions while striving to stay airborne as business entities.

But the dilemma of what to include in the ticket price and what to "add on" to the basic fare is not new as the airline industry continues to circle in the unfriendly skies while trying to find its way down to a soft financial landing after losing $60 billion over the last decade. Airlines that have "crashed and burned" and gone out of business over the last thirty years or so include Aloha, Braniff, Eastern, Pan Am, PSA, TWA, and Western; more airlines are likely to end up in the "corporate bone yard" in the future.

Here is what you could get from the airlines and what they could include in the ticket price or "unbundle" from the basic airfare and charge for separately:

• Food: Should it be included, offered on an "ala carte" menu, or just omitted entirely?
  
• Pillows and blankets: How often do you use one on a domestic U.S. flight (other than a "red eye")?
  
• Checked bags: One free, two free, or none free?
  
• Carry-on bags: Purses or one "personal" bag (that fits under the seat) free? Charge for laptops? Charge for bags stuffed into overhead bags? No charge at all?
  
• Phone reservations: Charge for initial booking and free for changes made later? No charge at all?
  
• Airport check-in charge: No charge for checking-in on-line, but a fee if you check in at the airport (even if you swipe your card at a kiosk and don't check bags)?
  
• Wi-Fi on-board: Free, pay-as-you-go, or a credit against what you are already paying your cellular carrier for a monthly data plan?
  
• Entertainment: Free movies aboard or pay by swiping your credit card (as you did with the Airfone) to watch on the screen of the seatback in front of you? Or pay only if it is "pay per view" with a wide selection of entertainment viewing choices?
  
• In-flight magazine: Do you read it? Should you pay for it? How about a rebate (on something) if you buy a product from the Sky Mall during the flight?
  
• Drinks: Coffee, tea, but not for free? How about water (poured from a pitcher, not sold by the bottle) or soft drinks? What should the airline charge for a beer, class of wine, or itty-bitty bottle of booze?
  
• "Rebanking" frequent flier miles when you cancel your trip: Free, minimal administrative charge (e.g., $15), or $150 or more?
  
• Using frequent flier miles to book on-line: Modest charge (e.g., $15) or free?
  
• Cancellation fee when seat you gave up is re-sold for what you paid or more: Small fee (e.g., $15) or none at all?
  

Would you be content if the airline simply let you check off all of the services you wanted and displayed the individual and total charges (including tax) so you knew the bottom line prior to booking? Would you use a third-party booking service (e.g., Expedia, Kayak, Travelocity) if its Website provided the same information and let you compare the "apples to apples" cost between flying to your destination on different carriers?

Finally, should Congress intervene in these latest "airfare wars" and impose universal peace by returning to the "good old days" when airfares were set by the now long defunct Civil Aeronautics Board?

Remember: Post your comments below so your thoughts can be shared with your fellow travelers and the airlines.