Airlines Could Charge for Using the Restroom — and the Baby in Your Lap

As CNN reported in January 2011, American airlines had just posted their biggest profits in a decade — powered by a la carte fees. The industry collected $2.1 billion in fees in the third quarter of 2010 alone, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics data: more than $900 million in baggage fees, nearly $600 million in reservation-change fees. Base fares stayed low; everything else got a price tag.

That addiction to fees, as George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.com put it, kept the industry dreaming up new ones. His 2011 predictions included some that sound like parody and one that was already reality:

Infant fees. Under-twos could still fly on an adult's lap free on domestic flights, though the FAA had long warned it was not the safest place for a child. Hobica predicted airlines might start charging to nudge parents toward buying a seat. Ryanair already charged 20 euros each way for lap infants — a move US carriers were thought too cautious to copy first, since whichever airline went first would, as BestFares CEO Tom Parsons noted, steer business away from itself in a New York minute.

In-person check-in fees. Hobica called this the most likely: with self-print boarding passes and prepay baggage, airlines could save fortunes on ground staff and charge passengers who still needed a human. Parsons predicted chaos — imagine paying $25 to ask why your flight was canceled.

Credit card fees. Airlines paid merchant fees on every ticket sale and wanted them back. British Airways already charged 4.50 pounds for UK credit-card bookings; Ryanair and easyJet had their own administration fees.

Weight/distance baggage fees and carry-on fees. Spirit Airlines had become the first US carrier to charge for overhead-bin space in 2010, and no major airline had yet copied it — but everyone was watching.

Then there was the restroom idea. Ryanair had publicly floated charging to use the lavatory — an infamous proposal nobody expected US carriers to touch.

The through line was unmistakable: the ticket was becoming a down payment, and everything else a line item. Passengers could hold their wallets — literally, in Ryanair's case, on the way to the bathroom.