Carrier Bans Tips At Boston Logan, Appeals Ruling

On Thursday, American Airlines announced it has banned tipping of skycaps at Boston's Logan International Airport, after a judge awarded $325,000 to nine skycaps who had sued the carrier, claiming a $2-per-bag curbside check-in fee cut into their income, and violated the state's tipping laws.

As ANN reported, the skycaps maintained the fee, implemented three years ago, led to a marked dropoff in the amount of their tips... which, like food service workers, make up most of their hourly pay. Passengers weren't willing to shell out more money for tips, the skycaps said, on top of the $2 charge... or, they didn't know the fee doesn't include a tip.

If there's one thing American's anti-tipping policy does, it removes that ambiguity... but Shannon Liss-Riordan, an attorney representing the skycaps, called the airline's ban "retaliatory."

"Tipping is a universal practice among passengers, and this is how skycaps have earned their livings for decades," she told The Associated Press. "Clearly, American's decision to try to stop people from tipping skycaps is in retaliation against these skycaps who asserted their rights under the state tipping law."

American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner retorts the tipping ban was "in no way" a spiteful gesture, but was rather a necessary measure to ensure American isn't violating Massachusetts law. The state has one of the most employee-friendly tipping laws in the country, which states all gratuities or service charges must be paid in full to employees providing a particular service... regardless of whether workers already make minimum wage.

"We have to ensure we're in full compliance because we can't put ourselves at even more risk," Wagner said.

If that excuse sounds a bit strained, consider a recent amendment to the Massachusetts tipping law will triple the automatic fine for violations, effective July 13, 2008. If, in fact, American was in violation of the law -- which the carrier maintains it never was -- it would be hit hard by such fines.

American has appealed the judge's ruling; the skycaps, in turn, will likely seek a court injunction to stop the appeal.

In the meantime, we're left with one question: just how, exactly, does American plan to stop its customers from willingly forking over a couple extra dollars to a skycap?

FMI: www.aa.com