The CEO of a major airline has slammed passengers who try to avoid paying for carry-on luggage.
Frontier Airlines is known for their cheap ticket prices, but they often come with additional fees, which were criticised by the Senate as ‘junk fees’.
These range from charging for carry-on luggage, which is often included in other airfares, to ‘unbundling services’ which are also normally covered by the cost of airline tickets.
In an interview with Reuters, Frontier Airlines boss Barry Biffle addressed the airline’s tendency to charge passengers for avoiding paying for carry-on luggage.
Biffle, who makes $8,580,000 each year, said: ‘These are shoplifters. These are people that are stealing. It’s not equitable to everyone who follows the rules.’
Some Frontier gate agents even got $10 per traveler if they managed to catch passengers who were trying to avoid paying for the carry-on luggage.
Biffle also said there will be an ‘unshackling’ after Donald Trump re-enters the White House, as the president-elect usually has a more lenient approach to airline regulations.
‘We’re going to focus on things that matter, like, like safety, and stop worrying about regulating prices and regulating experiences,’ Biffle said.
Frontier may be strict with their baggage policy and charge hidden ‘junk fees’, but other airlines are also tightening their rules.
Ryanair made a big change to its prices earlier this year, and it’s bad news for customers who need to bring a large cabin bag on board.
Customers are required to pay a fee for priority boarding if they wish to bring a 10kg suitcase onboard with them, rather than settle for the free small personal bag included with tickets, which can only measure 40x20x25cm.
But it’s not all bad news – new overhead bins are being introduced to some Airbus planes, potentially saving travellers from panic.
Last year, Airbus, the leading manufacturer of commercial planes in the UK and Europe, announced that it would be retrofitting some of its planes to include the new and improved Airspace L bins.
These new bins will be more than half the size again of the previous A320 bins, offering 60% more room, and allowing space for three extra bags per bin. The trick here is that bags will be stowed vertically, not horizontally.
And now, it looks like passengers will finally see the new bins onboard as Lufthansa is the first airline to receive 38 of them in January 2025, just three months away.
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