Spirit Airlines has announced a change in their baggage policy. For flights on/after August 1st, they will begin charging customers to carry-on luggage that needs to go in the overhead bins. You’re still allowed a single small bag that fits under the seat in front of you, and you’re allowed a few other small miscellaneous items. They claim that they’ve reduced their “lowest fairs”, so customers shouldn’t pay more in the end. The “lowest fair” comment sounds like the gotcha to me. They may have dropped the price of the lowest fare class, but if they didn’t change other fare classes….then most folks will pay more.
But to be clear, I have no problem with this fee, even if it raises the fare. I’m completely fed-up with the current carry-on situation on Delta & Continental. I’m sure other airlines are similar, after last year’s baggage fee increases. The deal is that when you charge people a fee to check a bag, many of them decide to carry that bag on with them for free. This is not at all what the airline wants, but it was an inevitable response. To compound the problem, most airlines take absolutely zero effort to enforce their baggage size policies. This means that people carry-on bags that are too large, and they have to put them sideways in the bins, taking-up two slots. So the overheads are completely stuffed now. Boarding takes longer, since people are hunting for overhead space. They almost always have to gate-check bags which takes time and ticks people off. Deplaning takes longer, since so many people have to pull big bags down. And all this time costs money. Gate space is expensive. The more time it takes to load/unload, the fewer planes Spirit can shuffle through a single gate in a day. That means higher expenses, and higher ticket prices.
Americans are capitalists, and we let money drive our decisions. I applaud Spirit for taking the step to use money as a driver to manipulate customer behavior to their liking. If some customers choose not to fly Spirit, so be it. But those who do fly will be more comfortable. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.