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United Charges for Skycap Service at Denver, Colo., Airport

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

By Kelly Yamanouchi, The Denver Post

Sep. 28--Another free convenience died at the curb Tuesday when United Airlines began charging $2 per bag for skycap services at Denver International Airport.

It's yet another way the bankrupt airline is trying to whittle its expenses, cutting out a "multimillion-dollar cost," said United spokesman Dave Dimmer.

Joe Krause contemplated checking his bags at the curb but thought better of it once he realized the service was no longer free.

Instead, he went inside the terminal to check in and ended up missing his flight.

"Next time, I'll pay the two bucks," said Krause, an Omaha resident who was in Denver on vacation.

But will he add a tip?

"I guess it depends on my mood," he said.

That's a sentiment that concerns some of the DIA skycaps. About 50 United skycaps work at DIA and are employed by Air Serv, the company United contracts with to provide skycap services at DIA.

"These guys survive off the tips," said Matthew Fazakas, president and principal officer for Teamsters Local 961. "They don't survive off an hourly wage." The skycaps have been earning $2.13 an hour.

The union has been negotiating with Air Serv to protect workers' wage-earning power. This week, it reached a tentative agreement with Air Serv. The company has delivered a plan that looks at pay and incentives in light of the new fee, according to John Farnell, Air Serv's central region senior vice president.

Under a United skycap services agreement for curbside check-in services put in place earlier this year at other airports, United pays nothing to the contractor for the services. The contractor charges customers $2 per bag for curbside check-ins and remits part of those funds to United to reimburse United's costs for the service, according to court documents.

Denver is the 14th city where United has put in place the $2 fee. Teamsters' business agent John Hennelly said customers Tuesday were very understanding about the new fee.

"Our members still appreciate the economic gratuities," he said. "This affects the livelihoods of our members and their families." As much as 90 percent of a skycap's income comes from tips.

However, according to the Denver Municipal Airport System rules and regulations, skycaps cannot solicit tips from customers, cannot make any comment or "visible display of dissatisfaction" at the lack of a tip or the amount of a tip.

The rules specify that if an airline customer asks what an appropriate tip would be, "the answer given will be, 'Whatever you wish to give.'"

Northwest, American and Alaska also have begun charging the $2 fee at some airports.

American spokesman Tim Smith said he thinks people are realizing that changes like charges for food and curbside check in are part of "getting that low fare."

He estimated well under half of American's customers check in at the curbside. Most of the others check in at the counter or at self-service kiosks.

SKYCAP CHARGES: Denver International Airport is the 14th airport where United Airlines is charging $2 a bag for curbside check-in. The other airports:

--Austin, Texas

--Boston

--Chicago Midway

--Chicago O'Hare

--Kansas City

--Los Angeles

--Oakland, Calif.

--Portland, Ore.

--St. Louis

--San Francisco

--Seattle-Tacoma

--Tampa, Fla.

--Washington Dulles

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Denver Post

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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UALAQ, NWACQ, AMR, ALK,

Source: The Denver Post

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