Airline Extras - Not Free Anymore

Recently, I flew to Seattle from Philadelphia to return to FT Lewis; this is my second of three trips across the country this week. I boarded US Air flight 107 and found my seat on an aisle between a happy three year old boy in diaper and yellow t-shirt and an attractive Guatemalan woman.

I settled into my seat for the five hour flight and stuck my nose into Waiting for Snow in Havana, Carlos Eire's diary of his boyhood during the final days of the Batista regime in Cuba. The plane quickly got into the air and I read and tuned everything out with a bizarre combination of Dave Matthews, The Hollies and Linkin Park on my MP3 Player.

The plane pulled away from the gate and we were first in line for take off soon after that. Shortly after we were in the air, the flight attendant announced that they would be coming through the cabin with headphones and an in-flight meal and beverages.

What caught my attention over the opening cords of Wild Night was the announcement that headphones were for sale for five dollars a pair. This made sense because there is a very good markup on headphones and many of the passengers had already had ear buds with their I Pods. In January, when we flew out to FT Lewis, the military charter gave headphones out and I told my commander that they were probably made for pennies. The ear buds that I got on that flight were very cheap and fell apart after a few weeks of use; however, the sound quality was very good.

What I heard next was a surprise. The flight offered two in-flight meal choices, both costing seven dollars. I felt glad that I finished the breakfast sandwich that my wife bought on the way to the airport.

Despite not wanting to pay seven dollars for a yogurt and coffee cake (and because my wallet was in my jacket in the overhead bin), I was curious. The attendant pushed the cart past me and could somehow tell that I was not interested in the food service. As she was getting the children's meal for the boy next to me, I asked her if it was common for airlines to charge for in flight meals.

"Yes, it is," she said with a sweet smile on her thin lips.

I knew her answer to my next question. Charging for a meal is similar to a bank charging administrative fees to offset business expenses. Some of these fees are accepted and some are unpopular to the customer. Ultimately, these fees become common practice in the industry and banks are adjusting their fees to remain competitive. Customers do not like fees, but they accept that there is a cost for some transactions. The tall lady in a pressed white shirt and pleated blue skirt explained that air travel is now very inexpensive for the customer and those costs are absorbed by charging for in-flight meals.

Doing rough math, the plane that I was on, an A319, carries about 115 passengers. As I said earlier, flight attendants were selling the headphones at five dollars each. I am guessing that thirty customers bought the headphones, which would be a profit of $149.10 if one accounts for cost of the headphones which I assume were purchased in bulk at three cents each.

Based on a government meal rate, the in-flight meal probably costs the carrier two dollars and it is likely that sixty of the passengers bought the meal. Based on that, the airline made an additional profit of $300 dollars.

The credit card industry and airlines are volatile business and success depends on striking a balance between the business and the customer. This has been especially necessary in recent years. Since September 11, 2001, airlines have encountered a number of problems and several carriers declared bankruptcy. Worldwide fuel costs and attractive fares have led airlines to look non-traditional ways to generate additional revenue. While as a customer I don't like the idea of charging for an airline meal I certainly understand the reasoning.

Airlines operate thousands of flights daily, both domestically and international; however, for this purpose, I will say that US Airways, is doing charging for these items on five hundred flights per day. That comes to a profit of $224,550 per day and $81,960,750 per year.

"I just remember when airline food was free," I responded.

She said that she does too as she handed the boxed meal to the lady next to me.