Would You Like Engines With Your Flight?

April 4, 2007 — -- Want to avoid that dreaded middle seat next time you fly?

Some airlines now allow customers to reserve certain aisle and exit-row seats, but that extra wiggle room will cost you. So might a bevy of traditional services that were once free, such as checking baggage or soda and coffee.

Buying an airline ticket used to be simple, if not wildly variable in price. Now consumers have more options -- and more fees -- when they fly, a trend that appears to be accelerating as airlines recover from industrywide losses. Call it airline ticketing à la carte.

"Airlines are definitely putting an emphasis now on providing plain vanilla service and then charging for extras," said Ray Neidl, an airline analyst with Calyon Securities.

The fees are not altogether new. European discount carrier Ryan Air has long charged for each checked bag and now has even added a handling fee for credit and debit cards transactions.

But now more U.S. carriers are joining the fee game. Spirit Airlines recently announced that as of June 20 it will begin charging $10 each for checked bag -- $5 if the fee is paid online. A third bag and each one after that will set you back $100. Cokes will be $1 each, please.

Even Southwest Airlines, long the friend of the budget traveler, has said it is also looking at extra fees, such as charging $10 for customers who want an assigned seat, but has yet to announce any formal plan.

Northwest Airlines launched Coach Choice in March 2006, setting aside some preferred economy seats, such as exit rows and aisle seats near the front of the cabin for customers willing to pay $15 extra. The airline says about 5 percent of its coach seats are reserved this way. Northwest wouldn't say how many customers have taken advantage of the program.

For several years, United Airlines has been offering an Economy Plus section at the front of coach for a premium. The seats there have five extra inches of legroom. Northwest and United allow elite members of their respective frequent flier program claim the better seats at no charge.

Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Company, an airline analysis and consulting business, said the trend started after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when airlines abandoned food service over security concerns but then turned it into a for-pay service on some flights.