Source: New York Times
Author: Micheline Maynard

It all began with the olive. Nearly 20 years ago, American Airlines, in the face of competition, made the first cost-cutting move - eliminating one olive from each salad it served its passengers.

But what began as a gradual decline in amenities at the big airlines has turned into the biggest attack ever on costs, particularly in coach class.

Since Christmas, some of the airlines have taken away the free pillows, magazines and curbside baggage service. Today, Northwest is eliminating another "frill" - the half-ounce bag of 18 braided pretzel sticks it hands out to passengers. Even though the cost works out to pennies a bag, the airline, which carried 40 million passengers worldwide in 2004, calculates that it will save $2 million a year.

The cutbacks mean that anyone flying during this summer's hectic travel season will find that a relatively cheap ticket on a big airline merely buys the flight from Point A to Point B, and little else.

But while passengers in the rear of the plane are getting bare-bones service, those in front on domestic flights - in first and business class - will receive greater attention. There, the airlines are competing for big spenders with better food, in some cases lie-flat seats once found only on overseas flights, and a choice of entertainment.

"There has been a pretty fundamental change" in the travel experience, said Klaus Bauer, director of passenger satisfaction and revenue at the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division.

Paradoxically, this cost-cutting is making low-fare airlines like JetBlue, Southwest and Song look luxurious compared with coach on the big carriers. Even at their lower prices, they still give their passengers pillows and other extras like entertainment systems that the major airlines do not offer free on domestic flights, and several make a point of their leather seats. They can afford to do these kinds of things because, in general, their lower operating costs have kept them in the black.

The traditional airlines, facing unrelentingly high fuel costs and warning of more bankruptcy filings, have lost more than $30 billion since the beginning of the decade. They have looked everywhere in making cost cuts, from employees' wages and benefits to retiring aircraft to eliminating unprofitable routes. Reducing amenities presents another way to save money.

But a result is that air travel, which once competed with plush railroad cars and ocean liners for a limited number of passengers, is now equivalent to other no-frills transportation, like long-distance buses.

Still, air travel is within the reach of far more people than it was 40 years ago, when only 15 percent of the public had flown. Adjusted for inflation, air fares have dropped 30 percent on average this decade.

"Everything is in a ticket price," said F. Robert van der Linden, curator of air transportation at the Smithsonian Institution. As passengers pay less, every frill is re-examined, he said. "When you're competing on price, you have to be aware of costs and do your best to cut costs."

For Northwest, which has lost $3.3 billion since 2001, and more than half a billion dollars in just the first quarter this year, the decision to eliminate pretzels was pure economics. Instead of the free pretzels, coach passengers on Northwest's 1,500 flights a day across the United States will now be able to buy a $1 packet of raisin-nut mix to go with their still-free beverages - which could be the next to disappear.

And Northwest could join rivals like American, United and Alaska Airlines, which have begun charging passengers $2 a suitcase at some airports to check their bags at the curb. United, which tested the idea in Seattle, has expanded the per-bag charge to Tampa, Fla.; Oakland, Calif.; Midway Airport in Chicago; Boston; and Seattle.

Some passengers are getting used to the idea of paying the fee. But skycaps, who rely on tips, are skeptical. "It would cut down on my customers, that's for sure," said Julian Duncan, 45, who has worked as a United skycap in Detroit for 19 years.

The reason airlines offered amenities like curbside check-in, meals and magazines (which American and Northwest have now eliminated) was that they were trying to emulate plush railroad cars, and for overseas travel, luxury liners.

Before World War II, there was only one type of service, Mr. van der Linden said. Flying was for the elite, and passengers who had the money expected treatment equivalent to other forms of expensive travel.

In the years after the war, comfort began to fade away. Two classes, and later, three classes of air travel were offered. When deregulation in 1978 spurred the growth of low-fare airlines, the big players began doing away with perks, starting with the olives that American removed from its salads in 1986 as a cost-cutting move, and spreading to playing cards, postcards and souvenir captain's rings for children. Even so, some elementary niceties hung on until this past year.

In the front of the plane, by contrast, airlines are competing to offer more seat room to passengers willing to pay for it. United, which began premium service called p.s. last year between New York and San Francisco and New York and Los Angeles, plans to offer those travelers wireless Internet service as well.

The low-fare airlines are seizing upon the cuts in coach service as an opportunity to continue increasing their share of the market. Since 1990, that has quintupled, to about one-third of domestic passengers.

America West, which wants to merge with US Airways, has seized on some aspects of upscale flying, like first-class seats and airport clubs, to attract business travelers. Passengers who do not want to pay for an annual club membership can buy a single-day pass for $35 (an option also offered by other airlines).

America West's goal is to find a balance between old-style comfort and the new reality of low costs, said H. Travis Christ, its vice president for marketing. It still offers pillows and blankets, but charges for food in coach and covers expenses in part by selling ads on tray tables, ticket jackets and even cocktail napkins. The airline is studying whether to charge for all checked luggage, not just bags dropped off at the curb.

Passengers seem to accept all this, Mr. Christ said, adding, "They don't necessarily expect the kind of amenities that they used to get."

More cuts on other airlines may be coming. In Australia, the reduced-fare carrier Virgin Blue has begun charging coach passengers about $22 extra a flight to reserve the roomier seats in the first row of coach and in exit rows.

But Mr. van der Linden at the Smithsonian cautions that airlines run the risk of annoying potential travelers, no matter what bargains they offer.

"There is a point where the airlines can look awfully cheap," he said. "They may be alienating their passengers."

Eddie Trent, who has spent 15 years as a skycap in Detroit for American, shares that sort of fear. Mr. Trent, 35, says his tips are down by half in recent years. "If we're making less in tips," he asked, "what does that do to service?"

Jeremy W. Peters contributed reporting from Detroit for this article.