Southwest: No Plans To Start Charging Baggage Fees
DALLAS (CBS/AP) – Southwest Airlines is promising not to begin charging its customers baggage fees, even as the low cost carrier is seeing profits plummet.
Southwest is the only one of the large commercial airlines in the United States that doesn't charge passengers to check their luggage.
Last year, the top 13 airline companies brought in $3.8 billion in bag fees.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told investors in a conference call that despite some struggles, there won't be any fees in the near future.
"We have a unique and beloved position in the industry with this approach and we would be foolish to squander it, so no thought whatsoever on charging bags," Kelly said, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Third-quarter profit fell 34 percent on falling fares and higher costs, and the company gave a weak revenue forecast for the rest of the year.
The average fare on Southwest — one of the few airlines to disclose that figure — fell 5 percent in one year to $147. As a result, passenger revenue for every seat every mile dropped, as it did at American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
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