A Surprise for airline passengers getting ready to take off this holiday season. They are still getting
hit with a baggage fee that was tied to sky-high fuel costs, costs that have since dropped.
"I think it's unfair. I think it's high way robbery." Some airlines have been charging passengers for
each and every bag they check. Those fees were meant to offset oil prices that spiked in the spring and
summer.
But since then fuel prices have dropped by two-thirds and many fliers are wondering why they are still
paying the added costs. "When I came it was like $4.20, when I came, and I'm leaving and it's like
$1.50 and I'm paying like twice as much as I came to fly here and $15 extra for a bag. So, I don't
know , I think we're kinda getting ripped off." "It's crazy. It's crazy. And it's just, it's making
people feel that they are getting handled, so to speak, by having to pay the extra fees."
Analysts say while fuel prices have dropped, airlines are sill in a financial crunch. They say
demand for seats has dropped and while gas prices dropped, some carriers locked themselves into paying
higher fuel costs. All of which means those baggage fees may be here to stay.
Ed Donahue, The Associated Press
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* sky-high : 하늘 높이
* offset : 상쇄하다, 차감하다
* get ripped off : 바가지 쓰다
* so to speak[say] : 말하자면
* crunch : 부족
* be here to stay : 뿌리내리다, 널리 보급되어 있다, 기초가 다져져 있다
