Well, this sucks...

Source: Chicago Tribune
Authors: Mark Skertic and Erika Slife

United Airlines, in its constant, desperate search for ways to save money, will end a venerable service: the free skycap.

Starting next month at curbside at O'Hare International Airport, passengers turning over their baggage to a porter for check-in will be charged $2 a bag. Until now, it has been a free service, though tipping is customary.

No great lament may be necessary, but skycaps have always stood out at airports because of their hustle, and some skycaps already wonder if they will be able to maintain their culture of charm and good customer service under the new system, in which an increased hourly wage may not be enough to compensate them for the presumed decrease in tips.

"The fire in the job is not there anymore," is how one skycap put it.

On Thursday morning, as the curbside pace quickened, travelers piled out of cabs and parents herded kids away from the street, porters patiently and efficiently managed the ever-growing mount of luggage set before them. The skycaps act as check-in agents, distributing boarding passes and baggage receipts and thus allowing passengers to bypass long lines inside the airport and head directly toward their gates.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," exclaimed one woman who was running late for her plane.

"I'm right here," the skycap chuckled and tagged her bag before sending her in the right direction.

The woman gave him a tip and dashed inside.

"Good tip?" he was asked.

With a shrug and a smile, he answers, "It's average."

United is expected to make the change on Aug. 16 because it will save the beleaguered company millions of dollars. Skycap service is operated by a contractor, which bills the airline monthly. The vendor will now collect directly from customers and pay a small percentage to United for the lease of equipment.

United and other airlines have begun charging for skycap service in other cities, including Seattle and Boston. In April, United quietly started charging for the service in Chicago when it began the practice at Midway. United offers only a few flights daily from Midway, and Southwest Airlines, that airport's dominant carrier, said it has no plans to begin charging for the service.

United will be the only airline at O'Hare charging, but others could follow. That has happened in several other markets, including Tampa and San Francisco. United already charges at eight airports.

Passing along the cost to customers ensures that only people who are using skycaps pay for the service, said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. "It's a way to lower out costs while generating a small amount of revenue that we'll re-invest into equipment for the skycap service," she said.

It's also a move that will likely irritate some customers.

O'Hare traveler Cathy Bill, 39, said she would stop using the service once she was charged for it.

"I think I pay enough for the ticket," the Connecticut resident said after leaving her luggage with a skycap Thursday. "I would definitely be opposed to it."

Free skycap service has been a fixture at busy airports for generations. The name has its roots in the days when most long-distance travel was by train. Railroad baggage handlers were sometimes known as "redcaps," a reference to their uniform hats. As travel migrated to airlines, baggage handlers adopted a name that reflected their industry.

Skycaps at O'Hare are now paid $3.90 an hour, but most make several times that amount in tips, said Al Johnson, president of Atlanta-based Premium Management Service. His company contracts with Elk Grove Township-based United to provide skycap service at O'Hare and several other airports.

Workers will receive an hourly raise once the new charge is instituted, but he declined to specify the amount until he tells the employees. When the skycap charge was introduced in Tampa, skycaps went from $2.13 an hour to $5.15, and that amount has since risen to $7.15.

In San Francisco, where workers were already making $10.92 an hour, they did not receive a raise, he said.

"We still want the men to receive gratuities," Johnson said. Training will take place to emphasize improving customer service, because that can increase tips, he said.

Currently, Premium Service Management sends United a bill each month for the baggage it has handled. With the new arrangement, the baggage-handling firm will collect $2 per bag, and pay United a small percentage to cover use of the airline's equipment at the airport.

But skycaps worry that a raise won't cover what they'll likely lose in tips. Most gratuities range from $1 to $3 a bag. That's likely to decrease if the upfront charge is $2 for each piece of luggage, workers fear.

"For the $2, I'd go inside," said Chicagoan Peter Basile, 35, who was using the service to check a bag on his way to Virginia. "I know it's only 2 bucks, but the truth of the matter is, it's free out here and I can go right to the plane."

Basile said that he usually tips about $5 in total each check in. "That would make it $7, and $5 is my limit," he said.

Workers fear that many travelers will have the same attitude and it will reflect on their generosity.

"They don't understand that this is how we make our living," one skycap said as he paused while lugging bags. "There's a lot of people out here that have been out here for 20 to 25 years and this is their living. It's like you're taking the money out of their pockets."

He and other workers asked that their names not be used, for fear of retaliation for speaking with a reporter.

United said that after the charge was introduced in San Francisco earlier this year, use of skycaps actually increased. It's become more a "valet" approach there, with skycaps getting the luggage out of cars, opening doors for customers and providing more personal service, Urbanski said.

There are about 50 skycaps workers at the O'Hare United terminal. They said they are a diverse group, mostly men in a group that includes African-Americans, Moroccans and Poles. It's a mostly lower-income group that includes some recent immigrants.

Workers don't expect skycap use to increase, and some said moral has dropped amid fears customers will carry their own bags inside to save a few dollars.

"In this case, they're being charged before we even say hello," said one. "They have 10 bags, it's $20 even before we say, 'How are you doing?' To me it's a rip off."

But some customers said they believe the service is worth the charge.

"No way we're carrying these through the airport," said New Jersey resident Richard Spieler, 52, who was wrestling with six bags. "Next time I see these, hopefully I'll be in Philadelphia."

Spieler, who tips $5 per person he's traveling with, said he would continue to tip the workers on top of the extra charge. "They're not getting the money. The company's getting the money," he said. "You got to take care of the workers in America. They're not getting enough."