Luggage charges: Will passengers go the Dundori way?

 

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) staff handle luggages at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), on November 7, 2023. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Most airlines have started charging for check-in bags. The latest is the US-based Southwest Airlines, a budget carrier used as a case study in strategy and operations.

Is Kenya Airways also charging for the baggage? Previously, baggage was free, and only limited by weight or number of bags. Free luggage was the hallmark of air travel and its luxuries.

Why the change now?  Why did airlines take so long to do what other players in the transport sector, like road transport, have been doing all through?

Economic hard times and low profit margins force us to be creative. Why not improve the bottom line through new charges? Governments do the same with new taxes and levies.

The charges are well-targeted, very hard to escape. Who can cancel a trip due to luggage charges?

There is a whole industry based on transporting goods. Think of the courier services, the lorries and logistics firms. Think of all the pickups, tuk tuks, lorries and cargo planes. Only that luggage is more personal.

It makes economic sense to charge passengers for the baggage that they can afford. It’s a small percentage of the ticket.

Carbon footprints

It also introduces fairness; the more you carry, the more you pay. I have often asked airlines why they can’t pay me for carrying no check-in bags!

Passengers may now be more conscious of their weight. Good for the planet due to lower carbon footprints.

Airlines could start giving people free baggage as an attraction, or factor it into the ticket price. “Did we stop going to the supermarket simply because we have to buy packaging?“

We could also get annoyed with the baggage charge and go the Dundori way. There is a widely held myth that natives of Dundori near Nakuru keep carrying their luggage inside the bus to avoid paying for it! Shall we do the same in the planes?

First class, business class or frequent flyers might not pay for the baggage. The higher the ticket, the more than compensates for that.

What‘s next for airlines? Weigh us? Clearly, bad economic times mean cost-cutting or introducing new charges. Not just in airlines, but other sectors.

We can worry about the consequences later. What else was free, but we now pay for it? Talk to us.