Delta Air Lines to charge $50 for second bag only on US-Europe route

Delta Air Lines, based in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, will charge international passengers $50 to check in a second bag only on its flights between the United States and Europe. Delta has exempted first-class and business-class passengers, elite frequent-fliers and active military from paying fee for a second checked bag on flights on the US- Europe route.  

The carrier’s new fee will take effect on July 1, 2009. 

On April 21, 2009, Delta Air Lines had announced that it would charge $50 to check in a second bag on all international flights in its effort to raise $100 million annually.

The first checked bag is free on Delta’s international flights.

However, the airline did not say how much revenue the scaled-back plan could generate a year.   

A spokesman of the airline said that the change in the decision was prompted by “competition” in the aviation sector.  

The US media quoted Delta Air Lines’ spokeswoman Betsy Talton as saying, “We constantly monitor the industry landscape to ensure that our fares and fees are competitive.”

For most airlines based in the United States, the so-called “unbundling” of services – which includes baggage fees – has been a good source of revenue. 

Delta Air Lines, the world’s biggest airline operator, and its major competitors in the United States already charge fees for first and second checked bag on domestic flights. 

It may be noted that major competitors had not toed Delta’s line of charging fees for a second checked bag on international flights.

The United States-based carriers US Airways and United Airlines had said in April 2009 that they were “studying” Delta Air Lines’ decision to charge international passengers fees to check a second bag.

British Airways, the flag-carrier airline of the United Kingdom, charges a fee for a second checked bag for some passengers for travel to certain  international destinations. 

The US-based American Airlines and Continental Airlines have not imposed a fee for a second checked bag on all international flights.

However, Continental Airlines levies a fee of $25 for a second checked bag for some passengers on flights between the United States and Canada as well as to some destinations in Latin America. 

Meanwhile, in another development, a class-action lawsuit filed in US District Court in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, has accused AirTran Airways and Delta Air Lines, the two biggest carriers in Atlanta, of colluding to start charging customers a fee to check a first bag. 

The suit claims that AirTran Airways invited Delta Air Lines “to collude on imposing a first bag fee by signalling that it wanted to start charging the fee if Delta acted first, and Delta accepted the invitation.” 

Delta had announced in November 2008 that it would start charging $15 to check a first bag, effective for travel from December 5, 2008, or later. 

AirTran Airways announced a similar fee about a week afterwards. 

According to legal experts, the class-action lawsuit could include thousands of passengers, together with those who paid Delta Air Lines or AirTran Airways charge for first checked bag on domestic flights starting from December 5, 2009. 

The process for the lawsuit, including determining whether it could be certified as a class-action lawsuit, could take many months, the experts said.