I’m not sure why people are still flying American if Southwest is available. Last time I flew American, I had to pay a booking fee. They also charge to make a change and now charge for bags. Southwest clearly is more accommodating.

This is an airline destined to go by the wayside. I can not wait to use my last frequent flyer ticket with them then kiss them goodbye. Not that TWA was perfect but this is the most non customer focused company I have ever dealt with.

Things cost what they cost. Charles Williams, it’s not like both American or Southwest fly to all of the same destinations. St. Louis sucks for an airport. Quite often you don’t have a choice of which airline you want to take depending on where you’re going. The bottom line is, people still need to get where they’re going and will do so as cheap as possible if options are available. It’s only bad for American Airlines if they price themselves above competition.

I live in Dallas (AA’s headquarters) and am shocked by this move. Bad idea. This will definitely affect my personal travel plans.

1. There is not enough overhead storage to accomodate all luggage.
2. This will increase security lines and lenghthen the boarding process considerably.
3. Moving luggage from the belly of the plane to the cabin is not going to decrease their fuel bill. This is just silly.

Wasn’t so long ago that they were urging people to check luggage because of overhead bin crowding! Can you imagine what this new policy will do to carry-on? Will the $15 offset the cost of the line delays as people try to get through security with things they use to check? Talk about a mess!

I wish they would just adjust their ticket price instead. The line to check bags with them will be huge as the skycaps process all the $15 payments; and the line for security will be worse as the TSA has to scan all the additional bags folks will try to carry on. More cabin bags will lead to increased boarding times and a more cramped cabin. I’d much rather pay a surcharge on my ticket than deal with the havoc that this new policy will cause. I also feel sorry for the skycaps who will no doubt loose gratuities as people will assume part of the $15 goes to them.

American Airlines has become just terrible, their flights are always delayed, their customer service is lousy, their flight attendants always seem unhappy and now this! It’s bad enough waiting for people who choose not to check their bags to find space in the overhead bins, this is going to make that situation intolerable. My tip of the day–buy Southwest stock!

So they want to reduce total cargo weight. Will they focus on body weight too? Might be a way to encourage weight loss if you can bring a free case if you weigh less.

This will mean even more people hauling on more luggage. The bins will fill up early, people will get even more aggravated, and the flight attendants will then have to deal with gate-checked baggage — will they find a way to then charge for that? All this will just delay the boarding process, and make for longer security lines. Increasing the price of the ticket would have been a better way to deal with fuel price increases.