You didn't need Nostradamus' skills to predict that there would be followers to United's fees to check a second bag. Sure enough, US Airways will begin charging passengers if they check a second bag.
What is interesting about the news, is that US states that 8% of their passengers check a second bag. As we noted in our post about United's policy, we estimated that it would take well over 16% of passengers checking a second bag to generate United's targeted benefit. We consider this proof that a big portion (maybe half) of the benefit of the fee is cost savings, not ancillary revenue. Carriers claim the savings deals with fuel, we suspect it's as much about the labor associated with handling the bags.
The ultimate source of the savings is fairly irrelevant. The multi-million dollar question is in fact, will a $25 fee really persuade the general travelling public to pack lighter? It probably depends. Imelda Marcos type shoe fiends? Probably no. Family of four going to Disney World? Probably yes. We'll just have to stay tuned, and see if they dial the fee up to $50 to know for sure.
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