Flying With Two Bags, Roundtrip: $80

May 21, 2008— -- Sadly, it has come to this: The nation's largest airline today revealed just how hard it has been hit by high oil prices.

American Airlines announced that starting June 15, it will charge passengers $15 one way to check their first bag. It's a service passengers are accustomed to getting for free, although they've recently been introduced to the idea of paying extra for a second bag to help the airlines break even. American also said it plans to slash flights to save money and potentially lay off staff.

American's move marks what industry consultant Robert Mann today called "the beginning of the end."

"We've gone from a full-service industry to a self-service industry," said Mann, president of R.W. Mann Inc. "They've been charging on a nickel and dime basis for every single service."

But American said it has little choice because rising fuel prices will cost the carrier an extra $3 billion to fly this year. The airline plans to park at least 75 planes to survive the financial crisis. Nationwide, domestic carriers will provide 17,251 fewer flights this June compared to last, which is a 2 percent drop, according to data provided by OAG-Official Airline Guide.

American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey today said there's "no sugar coating the fact that we are facing an extraordinarily difficult economic environment."

Jet fuel prices have surged 64 percent through May 20 of this year, compared to the same period in 2007, according to the Air Transport Association. Since the beginning of the year, airlines have attempted to hike airfares 15 times in an effort to survive, according to Rick Seaney at FareCompare.com. Eleven of those efforts have succeeded.

For travelers today, American's announcement came as an unwelcome surprise.

"That's really shocking to me and, I mean, I'm not really happy about it," said traveler Amanda Koenig. "But if it's what you have to do, I guess everyone's gonna have to do it."

But while it still sounds foreign to passengers, charging travelers to check even their first bag is something other airlines are considering, too. United Airlines today said that it's seriously studying the idea.