This past week, Southwest, which likes to brag about being the "no-fee" airline, announced a new fee:

You can pay $40 to board the plane sooner.

This is separate from the $10 you can pay for early check-in or the higher-priced "business select" fare, both of which also let you board the plane sooner.

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Gee. I'd hate to be a Southwest gate agent. A matador has an easier job.

All this from an airline that claims to have first-come/first-serve seating.

But no surprise. Flying and "fee" are synonymous. Once upon a time, you bought an airplane ticket and that was the end of your money outlay.

Now it's just the start. You pay to check your first bag. You pay to check your second. You pay for leg room or to use the overhead compartment. You pay for a snack. Or a pillow. Or a blanket.


You pay to change a ticket, switch a seat or cancel a flight altogether. That's right. You can end up spending money and never get on a plane.

Fees now constitute between 10 percent and 30 percent of all revenue for the airlines. And it's not likely to change.

But it could work both ways.

I would like to propose a new set of fees. Ones the airlines pay to us. These are fair. They are across the board. And just as the airlines are always telling customers fees are optional as long as you don't do certain things (i.e. bring luggage, eat or sit anywhere but the last row, middle seat), my fees are optional, too. Deliver what you should deliver, airlines, and there will be no charge.

On the other hand, if you want to continue certain practices, you gotta dig in those pockets.

For example ...


Every time you reach the gate and the Jetway operator can't be found, you pay each passenger $10.



Unwarned turbulence costs you $50 per bump.