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Rep. Young Does Battle For Troops Over Airline Luggage Fees

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By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 14, 2008

A Tampa Bay area congressman is seeking assurances from the airline industry that service members won't continue to face extra-luggage fees while flying to the Iraq war or elsewhere for military duty.

GOP Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Indian Shores, joined by Democratic Rep. Ron Klein of Boca Raton, wrote today to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Air Transport Association of America urging an end to the practice industrywide.

American Airlines announced Wednesday it will stop charging such fees, in response to a backlash from news reports that it had been doing so.

Young, the top Republican on the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee, wants to see such pledges from all the airlines.

"Though we sympathize with the airline industry's needs to cut costs and raise revenues, doing so on the backs of those who seek to protect us is ill-conceived," Young and Klein wrote to Gates and James C. May, president and chief executive officer of the Air Transport Association of America.

The two lawmakers point out that airlines already waive the fee for first-class passengers and some frequent flyers. Given that, they say it should not be difficult to ask that the airlines waive the fee for members of our military "who are on their way to or from service."

In addition, Young and Klein want Gates to scrap the military's policy of reimbursing military personnel for baggage fees.

"If the airlines refuse to waive baggage fees at the check-in desk, we would like to suggest that you develop a system to bill directly to the Department of Defense so that soldiers going to war don't have to concern themselves with whether or not their reimbursements went through," they wrote.

"We know you understand the financial burden that service members and their families often face. They may not have the extra money to cover the fees up front," they wrote. "We believe that our service members have more important concerns than paying baggage fees, keeping track of receipts, and hoping for an eventual reimbursement."

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell could not immediately comment on the letter from Young and Klein but said, "It's good to see American Airlines has done the right thing. Hopefully, the other airlines will follow suit."

Young and Klein wrote their letters in response to published reports that American Airlines had charged two soldiers from Texas $100 and $300 for their extra duffel bags.

One of those reports, appearing July 30 in The El Paso Times, revealed that American Airlines had charged Army Staff Sgt Ashley Serrano $100 for a third checked bag, even though the baggage contained military equipment required for combat.

The resulting flap led American to announce Wednesday that it will end fees for a third piece of checked luggage for active military personnel.

"We always understood that soldiers traveling on duty were reimbursed by the military for the fees on required excess baggage," said Tom Del Valle, American's senior vice president for airport services.

However, he said, after recently hearing of the burden the military reimbursement process put on soldiers traveling to war zones, "the choice for us to forgo payment for a third checked bag from the Department of Defense was clear."

Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673, or bhouse@tampatrib.com.

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