American Airlines retracts on curbside check-in fee, lifts ban on tips for skycaps

American Airlines has decided to stop charging $2 a bag for curbside check-in throughout the United States also to revoke a ban on tips for skycaps at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

Both decisions will come into effect on June 15, 2008. The same day, the airline will start charging passengers $15 for their first checked bag.

The airline had, earlier in May 2008, banned tips for skycaps at Logan International Airport after a jury in US District Court in Boston awarded, on April 7, 2008, a group of 9 skycaps over $325,000 (in back wages) for tips they lost when the airline implemented the curbside baggage fee in September 2005.

The airline company had then contended in court that it had banned the tips in order to comply with a Massachusetts tips law.

But, now the airline has reached an out-of-court settlement with the attorney representing the skycaps of Boston, a few days before a federal judge in Boston was set to hold a hearing on the skycaps’ request to lift the ban on tips.

Skycaps have been protesting against American Airlines’ fee of $2 for curbside check-in, arguing that they have lost tips because many passengers mistake the fee for a tip, or will not tip in addition to paying the charge.

Under the agreement reached between American Airlines and the skycaps, Boston skycaps will be allowed to accept tips again from June 15, 2008. In return, the Boston skycaps have consented to withdraw a civil lawsuit in which the skycaps had charged American Airlines with using the “no tip” policy to get even with skycaps who had won the lawsuit on wages.

The website www.boston.com quoted one skycap, working at Boston’s Logan International Airport since 1983, as remarking on lifting of the ban: “We’ve gotten rid of the $2-a-bag charge and we’re going to have some language on the sign at the curb saying tipping is allowed now.”

American Airlines Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR Corporation, is the world’s largest airline in total passengers-miles transported as well as in passenger fleet size, and the second-largest airline company in the world in terms of total operating revenues.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, adjacent to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, American Airlines operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, as well as flights to Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Japan, China, and India.

AMR Corporation also owns American Eagle Airlines, a regional airline based in Fort Worth, Texas.

In the face of enormous prices of aviation fuel, the world’s largest airline had announced a week ago that it will, beginning June 15, 2008, start charging many customers on travelling in domestic coach class $15 to check in a piece of luggage, either inside the terminal or at the curb.

The proposed fee for the first-bag followed another recent decision by the airline to charge anyone who is not is a “frequent flyer” $25 to check a second piece of luggage.