US Airways to introduce
Now that US Airways Group Inc. has put a price on everything — from sodas to snacks — the airline is giving you a new way to pay for it.
Starting early next year, its flight attendants will be outfitted with hand-held credit-card machines.
"It’s more convenient for our customers," said Michelle Mohr, a US Airways spokeswoman. "We realize consumers these days aren’t going to have a pocket full of cash. We want to move to a cashless cabin."
Last week, the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline began charging $1 for coffee and hot tea, and $2 for soft drinks and water. It is the carrier’s latest move to boost revenue as it struggles to make money with high fuel prices and softening demand.
The cost of jet fuel has increased more than 90 percent over the last year and more than 200 percent since 2000.
US Airways also charges for checked luggage, curbside-checked luggage and call-center reservations. The a la carte pricing is expected to bring in up to $500 million annually.
The airline, the seventh-largest serving Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, has been testing hand-held credit-card devices for several months. US Airways declines to say how much it is investing, but it expects to sign a contract with a vendor soon. It then takes 12 weeks to receive the machines, which are about the size of a TV remote control bad credit payday loan.
Several other airlines — including Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), American Airlines (NYSE: AMR) and JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) — already use the machines. "We’re behind the curve on this," Mohr said.
When America West Airlines and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) merged in September 2005, such capital expenditures hadn’t been in the picture, Mohr said.
Mike Flores, a spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents US Airways’ flight attendants, said the devices could lead to the airline charging for more amenities such as blankets and pillows.
Flores said he hasn’t heard too many complaints from customers but also hasn’t seen much demand.
Each flight brings in a few hundred dollars in beverage sales, Mohr said.