American Airlines gets bad rap on military-fee rumor

It sounds like another of those "greedy airline" stories that are always so popular around the water cooler: American Airlines is forcing service members heading to combat duty in Iraq to pay baggage fees for checking duffel bags loaded with military equipment.

It's a great story, except that it's largely untrue.

The tale, which has careened around online message boards and blogs in recent weeks, has spurred a flood of angry e-mails and phone calls to American. On Internet forums, the airline has been castigated and accused of being unpatriotic, and some have called for its executives to resign.

"What an insult to the military," lamented one commentator on consumerist.com. "I can't think of a better reason than this to cancel my Admiral's Club membership," another angrily states.

Like many online fables, this one starts with a fact: American, like most carriers, transports service members traveling to and from military bases under contracts with the Defense Department.

In July, the El Paso Times published a story about an Army National Guard soldier who complained when he was charged $100 to check an extra bag with his gear on an American flight to Camp Bowie, near Brownwood, Texas. He told the newspaper that he expected to be deployed to Iraq within two months.

The article sparked outrage on various travel, consumer and military sites. Many sites had headlines such as "American Airlines charging troops for extra baggage," and "Soldier charged $100 to fly gear."

"Their name should be changed to 'UnAmerican Airlines,"' complained one message writer on Topix.com. "For shame!!!!!!"

Officials with American say troops traveling on duty are exempt from fees the airline recently began charging to check first and second bags. Under its Defense Department agreements, the airline allows them to bring up to 190 pounds of baggage free of charge, including a 100-pound bag, 50-pound suitcase, and carry-on case of up to 40 pounds.

Service members do have to pay a $100 fee if they need to check a third bag; however, that fee is reimbursed by the military. And many have government travel cards that can be used for fees, according to Eileen Lainez, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

"Soldiers don't have to shoulder the cost of any baggage when they travel," said Tim Wagner, an American spokesman.

American's baggage policy for traveling troops has been in place for several years, Wagner said, and hasn't changed despite the slate of new baggage fees for most customers.

The airline also noted it doesn't charge fees to troops traveling directly to duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Those flights are operated as special charters for the military under the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet program and don't operate under the same rules as commercial flights.

Wagner also said the airline has not received any complaints from military officials about the policy.

On Aug. 8, the Veterans of Foreign Wars wrote a letter to the Air Transport Association, citing the El Paso Times article and asking the industry to consider waiving excess baggage fees for GIs.

Joe Davis, the group's spokesman, said it was aware that the fees were reimbursed. But he said for a young service member starting out, paying a $100 charge can be an economic hardship even if it is paid back.

"When you're making $16,000 a year like a junior enlisted person, $100 is a chunk of change," Davis said. "That's grocery money."

American received another round of negative feedback Tuesday, when The Washington Times published an article about the VFW letter. Again, Wagner said, many people misunderstood the policy and believed that troops flying into combat zones were personally responsible for baggage fees.

"That's just not the case," he said.