United Airlines is one of the largest airlines in the United States and the world. The airlines received lots of negative comments regarding its recent protocol on charging an extra fee for using their aircraft's overhead lockers. Overhead lockers, which customers expect to be paid along with the airplane ticket fee, are now going to be paid separately on basic economy airfares.
According to reports from Telegraph and The Washington Post, United Airlines will be establishing a new basic economy airfare starting next year. This results to passengers paying for cheap airfare price, but is only permitted to bring along a tiny luggage of about 9" x 10" only unless they are willing to pay for extra luggage charges.
The tiny luggage of the passengers is only allowed to be placed under their seats, as the overhead lockers will now have an additional charge. Seats for the basic economy airfare will also be assigned beforehand which forces passengers riding together to sit apart from each other. However, United Airlines is not the first and only airlines applying this policy.
In addition, United Airlines is said to elevate the changes up to $1 billion by the year 2020. Because of the overhead locker charges, travelers, even US government officials, have reacted negatively to this new protocol made by United Airlines. According to Chuck Schumer, a New York Senator, "The overhead bin is one of the last sacred conveniences of air travel and the fact that United Airlines- and potentially others- plan to take that convenience away unless you pay up is really troubling.
It seems like each year, airlines devise a new, ill-conceived plan to hit consumers and it has simply got to stop." Furthermore, comments, tweets and posts about boycotting United Airlines have emerged in social media sites. People even made fun of the airline's new policy by saying that the airline might ask extra charges for oxygen.
