Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air to charge fee for first baggage check

Alaska Airlines Group has said that Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air will start charging passengers $15 for the first bag checked.The decision has been made by the airline company following a $12.2 million loss incurred in the first quarter of 2009.

The charges will take effect from July 7, 2009, for tickets reserved from May 1, 2009.

Many other airlines have already started charging similar rates for checked luggages.

Southwest airlines is one of the few airlines that does not charge passengers for the first two bags.

To make up for the new charges, Horizon and Alaska Airlines will guarantee passengers that they will be able to pick up their baggage within 25 minutes of their flight park at the gate.

If that does no happen, then passengers will get 2,500 frequent-flier miles or $25 off a future flight.

“We want to continue matching the lowest fare in the market without being at a revenue disadvantage to our competitors,” Bill Ayer, Alaska Air Group’s chairman and CEO, was quoted as saying.

“But we’re also going to provide customers more value for what we’re charging through the bag-service guarantee, which no other airline offers,” he added.

However there are some exceptions who won’t be charged for bags checks.

First-class passengers, MVP and MVP Gold Mileage Plan members, children flying alone, military personnel on active duty and passengers traveling to or from Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico, will not be charged.

Passengers travelling alone within the perimeters of Alaska will get three free checked bags.

Alaska Airlines started charging passengers from outside Alaska, $25 for second bag check from July 2009. This will not change, but the third bag check rates will drop from $100 to $50.

The charges for overweight or over sized baggage won’t change.

Alaska Airlines had announced on April 23, 2009, that it lost $19.2 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to a $37.3 million loss in the same period in 2008.

Passenger traffic for Alaska Airlines has dropped by 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.

Alaska Airlines has said that it will make changes in fares, reduce schedules, and reallocate capacity to deal with dipping demand.