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Airline baggage fees and flight delays: A floor wax and dessert topping?

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  • Yazdi, Amirhossein A.
  • Dutta, Pritha
  • Steven, Adams B.

Abstract

We examine the linkages between the implementation of baggage fees and late flights in the airline industry. We find that baggage fees policies result in improvements in on-time performance as assessed through late flights, directly through improvements in airport-side sorting and loading efficiencies, and indirectly through lower air travel demand. We further find that these relationships are contingent upon the presence of a hub airport on a route. Our findings have important managerial and public policy implications as baggage fees have often been cited as a driver of security queue, aircraft alley, and overhead bin congestions, and ultimately delayed flights. Our results suggest that these suppositions could be misplaced.

Suggested Citation

  • Yazdi, Amirhossein A. & Dutta, Pritha & Steven, Adams B., 2017. "Airline baggage fees and flight delays: A floor wax and dessert topping?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 83-96.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:104:y:2017:i:c:p:83-96
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2017.06.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Chiambaretto, Paul, 2021. "Air passengers’ willingness to pay for ancillary services on long-haul flights," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    2. Shaban, I.A. & Wang, Z.X. & Chan, F.T.S. & Chung, S.H. & Eltoukhy, A.E.E. & Qu, T., 2019. "Price setting for extra-baggage service for a combination carrier using the newsvendor setup," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-14.
    3. Yu, Bin & Guo, Zhen & Asian, Sobhan & Wang, Huaizhu & Chen, Gang, 2019. "Flight delay prediction for commercial air transport: A deep learning approach," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 203-221.

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