Thu, Apr 01, 2010
Revenue Will Be Recovered Through PayLavs
ANN April 1st Special
Edition: In a move that shocked the airline industry
Thursday, US Airways said it would stop charging for both alcoholic
and non-alcoholic beverages on its domestic and international
flights. A US Airways spokesperson said the lost revenue would be
recouped through the airlines' new "PayLav" policy.
"People were bringing their own drinks onto the airplanes
anyway, so the drink cart was declining as a revenue stream," the
spokesperson said. "Even at airport terminal prices, they could buy
a bottle of water cheaper before they left than they could on the
plane."
Flight attendants had also complained about the unwieldy credit
card swipes for passengers to pay for their drinks. A union
spokesman said they were "relieved" to not have to worry about
getting cards back to the right passengers before the plane began
its initial descent.
To replace the lost revenue, US Airways will install "PayLavs"
on all of its airplanes. "The system will work either with cash,
credit, or debit cards," said PayLav spokesman Goethe Gogh. "That
way, if the machine won't take the crumpled dollar bill that's been
in their pocket for two weeks, they can simply swipe a card and
gain access to relief."
Kate Hanni, founder of fliersrights.org, blasted the move as an
airline capitalizing on a basic human necessity. "What happens when
they're stuck on the tarmac for three hours?" Hanni said at a news
conference. "I can't imagine someone wanting to pay to use a
lavatory that's clean, let alone one that's all backed up from a
lengthy tarmac delay."
Other airlines are watching the experiment closely to gauge
customer reaction. Southwest is considering using the card-swipe
technology on the overhead bins. "Bags still fly free," said a
spokesman, "but we don't store them for free, unless they're under
the seat in front of you."
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