Airlines “Fee”(d) on Passengers - $2 Bag Fee for Skycap Services

In the latest in a long string of new fees imposed on passengers, many airlines have now chosen to charge passengers a new $2 per bag fee for skycap services.

The airline race to the bottom hurts their low-wage workers too. After airlines implemented a $2 per bag fee for skycap services – which used to be complimentary – many skycaps report that they have lost as much as 60% of their income, as passengers now tip less or not at all.

Skycaps also report longer lines as passengers avoid the bag fee. And after Boston skycaps sued to get their tips back, and won, American Airlines flat out banned tips and threatened workers with discipline for accepting what for decades has been vital income.

In response to American Airlines’ apparent retaliation against skycaps at Boston’s Logan Airport, the Boston Globe editorialized for the skycaps, writing of American Airlines actions…

At worst, this is petty, mean-spirited retaliation. At best, it’s the most convenient course for the airline - and one that just happens to hit a group of workers who stood up for themselves.

Read the whole editorial here.

California Assemblymember Introduces Legislation to Protect Passengers, Tipped Airport Workers

In response to the airline race to the bottom, CA Assemblymember Lloyd Levine introduced AB 408, protecting the integrity of skycaps services and ensuring that money passengers intend for skycaps isn’t siphoned off by unscrupulous airlines. The bill is headed for its first committee hearing on June 11. Stay tuned.

• Measures would help skycaps get tips
• Airlines Criticized for Skycap Service Fee
  
• Lawmakers Consider Skycap Legislation
• Baggage handlers watch income fly away

History of Skycaps: Airlines Destroy Previously Middle-Class Jobs

The first skycaps come from a rich tradition of the Pullman porters of the 1920s and 30s during the railroad era. These porters were predominantly African American men, and were among the most poorly paid workers on the railroad. They therefore relied heavily on tips to supplement their income, which helped many to purchase homes and provide for their families.

As the railroad industry was replaced by air travel, railroad porters and red caps, who were responsible for carrying passengers’ luggage, were no longer needed. It was then that skycaps came into being at airports.

Today, skycaps are predominantly older African American men, with some that still retain the history and legacy of the railroad era. Many have worked for the airlines for over 20 years, and their low salaries continue to be supplemented by tips.

Most skycaps are subcontracted workers who do not receive family health care, despite their years of providing valuable services for the airlines.

Want More Information?

• Skycaps tips litigation website
• Justice for Skycaps

• Skycaps sue airline over tips lost to bag fee (Boston Globe)
• 9 skycaps win $325,000 in tips in suit over curbside fees (USA Today)
• Kicked at the curb (Boston Globe)
• Airlines face more skycaps lawsuits (The Washington Post)

UPDATE: AMERICAN AIRLINES DROPS FEE AND LIFTS BAN ON TIPPING

Faced with lawsuits and criticism, American Airlines announced it would drop the $2-per-bag fee and lift the controversial ban on tipping at Logan. This announcement, however, comes at the heels of AA’s new $15 fee for checking in a piece of luggage. Many skycaps, according to a Boston Globe report, fear that passengers would tip less with the higher fees.

More news on the fee for curbside check-in and tipping ban:

• American Airlines drops fee for curbside check-in service (The Boston Globe)
• American to halt curbside check-in fee, lifts tips ban (Dallas Business Journal)

photo by superciliousness