American Makes $278 Mil From Checked Bags, to Which Southwest Responds, “So?”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, American Airlines pocketed $278 million in bag fees last year, putting it at the top of the list of airlines making extra scratch by charging to lose your luggage. But Dallas-based Southwest Airlines insists it still won’t go there: Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told National Public Radio this morning that, look, it may make the Fort Worth-based carrier and other competitors some nice coin in the short run (as in, $1.1 billion), but over time it could run off potential passengers. “Find me one example of somebody who likes paying a baggage fee,” Kelly tells Wade Goodwyn. “If you look at our customer traffic for 2008, as we were forced to raise prices last year, our numbers fell off.”