Airlines Charging For Lap Babies, Larger Passengers and Leg Room

(MoneyWatch)  Last week, news broke about Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways raising its lap baby fee to 25 percent of an adult fare. While "lap babies," or infants and children under two years old carried on a parent's lap, usually fly free on domestic flights, a 10 percent fee isn't unusual on international flights. (US Airways calls it a baby fee and surcharge.) The reality is that if an adult's ticket is $2,000, then the baby's fare rose from $200 to $500. For higher-priced tickets, the price also rises.

Charging more for more legroom also isn't new, but more airlines are now trying on the model that carriers like Virgin America, United and JetBlue offer its passengers. Frontier Airlines began reconfiguring its planes last month in hopes of chasing after extra dollars. Soon every seat may have a fee except the dreaded middle seat.

As analyst Michael Derchin told the New York Times:

"Consumers understand that when you go to the theater or a concert, you pay for location; there's one price for sitting in the orchestra, another for the back of the mezzanine.

"The airlines have figured out that where you sit potentially could be worth different things to different people."

In a much more hotly debated topic, several airlines are debating additional charges for "larger" passengers --or those that are overweight and spilling over onto a neighbor -- and requiring the purchase of two seats. Already United and Southwest airlines have policies in place (although United's policy began April 15, 2009), but other airlines don't seem to be publicizing their policies. Perhaps because it's very close to discrimination and airlines, like most companies, fear lawsuits.

Rising surcharges have become an integral revenue strategy for airlines, so I don't see any of it ending -- in fact, I only see fees gaining in momentum and ingenuity. As for baby fees, I'm willing to bet that within 90 days of this post there will be a domestic lap baby fee. I also think that providing economy plus seats, or coach seats with more legroom or next to fewer people, will also be a market driver. Out of the three, the example of larger passengers paying for two seats seems the most problematic.

While many thinner passengers demand this to be instituted, airlines must proceed with caution. While overweight or obese people aren't yet a protected class, they are one lawsuit away from being one -- and I don't think any airline relishes being involved in that landmark case. For now, airlines should follow humane policies like not charging if the flight isn't full and having a confidential conversation with the passenger when the flight is full (complete with options of buying two seats or waiting for another less-crowded flight) to save everyone embarrassment.