Fuel Costs Push Airlines to Raise Charges on Drinks, Checked Bags

Think paying for in-flight snacks was a pain? Now a bottle of water can cost you, too.

Starting Aug. 1, US Airways will add nonalcoholic beverages to the growing list of amenities not included in a flight’s base fare, thanks largely to increasing fuel costs.

Water, soda and juices will set passengers back $2. The cost of alcoholic beverages will increase from $5 to $7.
The combination of added fare and fuel charges will cover less than 15 percent of the industry’s fuel costs increases, said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition. U.S. carriers had been reluctant to add fees for basic services in the past for fear of a consumer backlash, Mitchell said, but airlines now have little choice but to charge for individual services, a model common among European airlines.

“A good number of travelers are going to feel that this is yet again more nickel-and-diming,” said Mitchell, whose group is an advocacy organization for corporate buyers of business travel services. “But it’s a matter of [airlines’] survival at this point.”

Washington Post