Design*

This whole thing with the airlines charging for bags. Call it short-sighted or wrong-headed, it really seems like a bad solution. Or at least, the airlines aren’t considering the full spectrum of the problem. They are seeing the problem only through the lens of fuel costs, and not at all through the lens of customer experience. I predict that the recent changes to the fee structure is going to cost the airlines more trouble than it is worth.

When I first heard about American Airlines adding charges to checked bags (with other airlines following suit), I shuddered. Let’s face it, there are a lot of things that prompt flyers to avoid checking bags these days, and it’s only gotten worse with post-9/11 security measures. Between the airlines and the TSA, checking bags is a pretty awful aspect of customer experience in air travel. And now they expect people to pay for this experience.

There are three reasons people avoid checking bags. The first is that the airlines make it just too difficult to deposit your bags. The queues at airport check-in are typically terrible and often force you to risk missing your flight. I’ve had many experiences arriving 90 minutes to 2 hours early to the airport, only to barely make my flight because I spent so much time waiting to check my bags. The check-in counters are never adequately staffed and are clearly one of the first places to suffer when airlines cut back on costs. It is much easier and faster to go straight to security with your over-stuffed rolling bag and directly to the plane.

The second reason has to do with handling. We’re all suspicious of what happens to our bags once they disappear down the conveyor belt. How many times is that bag going to be dropped, kicked, crushed, nicked, or even searched in its time moving onto and off of the plane? Especially now that we know that airport employees can open and search our bags with impunity, there is a level of violation associated with leaving your luggage in the hands of the airline. Of course, we all want to travel safe, and are happy to have potentially dangerous items checked and removed from other people’s luggage. But you can’t help but feel personally affronted by all the abuse your bags get.

The third reason has to do with recovery, or baggage claim. The airlines will say this is the airport’s fault, not theirs. But it is confounding how long it can take for your bags to reach the conveyor belt in baggage claim. And if the airlines can’t control this part of the experience, do they have a right to charge extra for bag handling?

Now, if I’m paying an explicit fee to check my bags, I will have an expectation that all three of these things will be improved as a service I am specifically paying for. Are the airlines prepared to deliver on this? I doubt it.

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