JetBlue announces check bag fees on cheapest tickets

21 Nov 2014 01:25:15

syracuse.com

It will soon cost you money to check a bag on JetBlue if you buy the cheapest level of tickets.

JetBlue Airways Corp. said Wednesday that it will create three ticket classes beginning in the first half of 2015, and only the top two include at least one free checked bag.

JetBlue executives declined to give a price for the bag fee, but they said pricing would fluctuate with demand. They said fewer than half of JetBlue passengers check a bag.

Other big airlines have added fees on checked bags since 2008, and JetBlue's move will leave Southwest as the only large U.S. airline that allows all passengers to check at least one bag for free. Southwest has said the lack of bag fees attracts enough additional passengers to more than offset money that would be raised by fees.

JetBlue will also add 15 seats to its Airbus A320 planes, increasing capacity to 165 from 150, and reduce average legroom to 33 inches between rows from more than 34 inches. The retrofit of cabins will start in late 2016, take two years and still leave more legroom than in the main cabins of bigger airlines, JetBlue executives said.

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