Sens. Edward Markey of MA and Richard Blumenthal of CT sent a letter Tuesday to 12 airlines asking them to drop the checked bag fees and noting that with the drop in fuel prices the fees are no longer needed.
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The letter, signed by Sens.
Two U.S. senators are calling on airlines to stop charging for checked baggage, at least temporarily.
Baggage fees have experienced rapid growth since 2008, when American Airlines became the first big carrier to charge for checking even one bag, according to the Associated Press. That’s $50 one way.
A letter to the panel, penned in part by Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) and dated Tuesday, was the latest push to get more funding for the agency, which has been severely short-staffed as security checkpoint wait times have grown in recent months. Richard Blumenthal (D) have another suggestion.
Airports are apparently just as unhappy about it. His wife’s was six pounds under limit, so they escaped a fee. But travelers said they are doing more, and more travelers are waiting.
“We write in the wake of reports of staggeringly-long lines expected this summer at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening checkpoints in airports across the country”, both Markey and Blumenthal’s websites said.
“If there was a solution like doing away with checked bag fees is something that is worth exploring further, : said passenger Logan Weiland”.
“We are encouraging customers to be prepared for the lengthy waits”. The TSA officer who was staffing the checkpoint X-ray machine detected the handgun as it passed along the conveyor belt inside his carry-on bag. “It would also have the unintended outcome of making airfare more expensive”.
In the meantime, the Port Authority is exploring the possibility of bringing in private security contractors under TSA’s Screening Partnership Program. So what’s their nonsense proposal for screening more passengers with less staff? Some airports are already using private contractors instead of the TSA, a move that NY and Seattle are considering for their own airports.
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“I see a lot of people very stressed, because they didn’t realize that it takes beyond the hour that you would expect”, Hall explained. The number of front-line screeners was cut by 10percent in the past three years, based on the assumption that travelers would enroll in PreCheck.
