American Airlines to charge for front-row seats



American Airlines to start charging $19-$39 for seats in the first few rows of coach cabin 
Samantha Bomkamp, AP Airlines Writer, On Wednesday August 18, 2010, 3:56 pm EDT


NEW YORK (AP) -- American Airlines has found another fee.


The Fort Worth, Texas, airline said Wednesday it's now charging between $19 and $39 for "Express Seats" -- those spots in the first few rows of coach that include bulkhead seats.
American said the price of the seats includes getting on the plane in the first "general boarding" group of passengers. The seats that will cost extra are in the first two or three rows of the coach cabin, depending on the size of the plane.


Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com, thinks passengers will see more packaged fees like this in the future -- where benefits like free standby or boarding perks are included.

The carrier, which is operated by parent AMR Corp., is following in the footsteps of several other airlines who already charge for special seats. UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways, JetBlue, Frontier, Spirit and AirTran all have some seats that cost extra.

The American seats don't give passengers much extra for their money, said Steven Hall of CompareAirlineFees.com. Most of the other airlines' premium seats offer more legroom. But it is a benefit for passengers to be among the first to board the plane, he added.

The seats on American can only be bought at airport kiosks between 24 hours to 50 minutes before the flight for travel within the U.S.

American, the country's second-largest airline behind Delta Air Lines, still provides its elite frequent fliers those seats for no extra charge. American also charges fees for checked bags, priority boarding, booking on the phone or in person, "sleep sets," unaccompanied minors and pets.


On Tuesday, AirTran raised its fee for the first checked bag by $5 to $20 for travel starting in September. The cost is now on par with bigger airlines.

U.S. airlines collected about $1.9 billion from fees in the first quarter, the most recent period for which data is available from the Transportation Department. American's share of that was $261.1 million.


AP Airlines Writer David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

American, JetBlue Negotiate Code-Share



By Ted Reed 08/16/10 - 04:21 PM EDT

American Airlines/JetBlue story updated with comments from JetBlue.


DALLAS (TheStreet) -- American Airlines(AMR) and JetBlue(JBLU) are negotiating a code-share agreement that could be in place as early as the first quarter of 2011. "We are negotiating, working towards perhaps a code-share in the future," Art Torno, American's vice president for New York told TheStreet. He emphasized that no agreement has been reached so far.

A code-share, which enables airlines to sell tickets on one another's flights, would be a natural step in the increasing cooperation between American and JetBlue, which in March announced plans to work together in New York where both operate hubs at Kennedy International Airport. The two carriers recently announced plans to enable customers to earn frequent flier miles on either airline on connecting flights.

The next step, said JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin, is for the carriers to post interline itineraries on their websites.

"We've said all along that we are open to discussions with American to grow this relationship, but at this time we have no plans to enter into a traditional two-way code-share relationship with American," Baldwin said.
The initial deal involved an interline agreement enabling sales on one another's flights, but the proceeds are remitted directly to the operating carrier. In a code-share, revenue is pro-rated between the airlines and each airline can put its own code on the other's flight. Interline agreements are far more common: American has about 135 interline partners. Both arrangements enable baggage exchange between carriers.

Torno said he has worked closely with JetBlue CEO Dave Barger since the initial deal was announced, but the two carriers want to take things slowly. "We're taking baby steps to make sure that what we are doing makes sense," he said. "Whatever we implement, we want to make sure it works."

As the biggest aviation market in the world, New York is hotly contested. Delta(DAL) said last week it will spend $1.2 billion to upgrade its facilities at JFK .

Meanwhile, a merger between United(UAUA) and Continental(CAL) means the combined carrier will push more traffic through the latter's Newark hub.

Torno said American has a competitive advantage with its $1.3 billion JFK terminal and plans over time to move its alliance partners British Airways and Iberia into the terminal as well. Additionally, if a trans-Pacific joint venture with JAL is approved, that carrier would also be expected to move to the American terminal.
American's parent AMR closed down 0.72% to $6.85 on Monday, while JetBlue shares closed down 0.33% to $5.96.

-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.