Air Canada, as part of the price wars that airlines continually battle, is moving with a new step. The company is offering a discount for air travelers who come without luggage. The company's Tango services and online booking will reward a customer with a reduced fare when they indicate they will not be checking luggage.
By supporting travelers with only checked bags, the move is expected to not only lighten security costs for the airline, but also lessen the company's baggage handling costs.
On Friday, the "Coalition for Luggage Security," a small interest group (translate that as an arm of a private company) from New York congratulated Air Canada for the move. The congratulations hardly comes as a surprise. The "Coaltion" is actually a cleverly concealed motion of Luggage Express, a company that seeks to make money by picking up your luggage before your flight and convey it through security to your final destination. The "coalition" (headed up, not surprisingly, by Luggage Express' own CEO) has been a regular pundit that wants airlines to charge hefty fees for secure baggage processing.
Nonetheless, the discount mentality of airline operations may push forward the possibility of being charged for baggage handling, and with security costs having increased in recent years that seems to be a greater and greater possibility.
