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Apr 24, 2008 8:39 pm US/Central
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DFW Airport Skycaps File 'Tip' Lawsuit
Reporting
Jack Fink
DFW AIRPORT (CBS 11 News) ―
Skycaps at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and other airports nationwide have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against American and United Airlines. The skycaps claim the fees customers pay to check their bags in at curbside have drastically reduced their tips.
The new lawsuits come after nine American Airlines skycaps in Boston won $325,000 in lost tips. TXA 21 News spoke with one of the plaintiff skycaps at DFW Airport, who doesn't want to be identified for fear he'll lose his job.
"It's wrong for United to take money out of our pockets like this," he said.
The man has been a skycap for 19 years and ever since a couple of years ago, when American and United Airlines began charging $2 per bag to check in at curbside, he says he's watched his tips dry up.
"If it's during the summertime, a busy week would be okay be like $100 a day; it will be $500 a week," he explained. "Now we're doing about $125 a week."
The man says even though the airlines raised their wages from $2.13 to $5.15 an hour, they're still making far less money.
In a federal class action lawsuit the skycaps filed against American and United Airlines, they seek millions of dollars in lost tips.
"Passengers intended to give this money to the skycaps, and there's a limit to what corporations can do to boost their bottom line," said attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. "They can't take other people's money."
Liss-Riordan says part of the problem is that many passengers don't realize that curbside check-in fees go to the airlines.
An American Airlines spokesman says they haven't seen the newly filed class action lawsuit. But they point out that there are signs posted at check-in that state the tip is not included with the fee.
United Airlines didn't return TXA 21 News calls seeking comment. As for the skycaps, they worry what will happen next month, when United and other airlines will start charging $25 to check in a second bag. "Then what are we going to do. Expect a tip after this? They're not going to tip," the skycap said.
A federal judge denied a previous attempt to make the case a class action lawsuit, but the skycaps' attorney says after they appealed the decision, the judge agreed to reconsider.
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