Free Soda, Water Returns To Domestic Flights In March

One of the more egregious 'revenue-enhancing' measures attempted by US Airways last year will soon end. The Tempe-based carrier announced this week complimentary beverage service in coach will return to US Airways and US Airways Express Flights beginning March 1.

Introduced to considerable passenger grumbling last August, the beverage purchase program was defended by US Airways as justified under its a la carte business plan -- where customers pay for what they use onboard US Airways flights. While US Airways (and others) got away with such items as checked baggage fees and charges to place a reservation over the telephone... for many customers and employees alike, the idea of charging $2 for water was the last straw.

On Monday, US Airways CEO Doug Parker tiptoed the line between apologizing for the unpopular program, while also defending the reasoning behind it. "We are firmly committed to the a la carte model and believe it’s the right one for our business," said Parker. "It is also a work in progress -- US Airways was the only large network carrier to charge for drinks and that put us at a disadvantage."

Parker noted the negative reaction to drink charges was "distracting from the outstanding improvements in on-time performance and baggage handling US Airways' 34,000 employees worked so hard to achieve last year," including welcome gains in ontime performance. Following years of near dead-last listings, DOT figures for 2008 showed US Airways was the top-performing carrier for on-time performance among the "Big Six" hub-and-spoke airlines.

While non-alcoholic drinks will soon be free again -- at least for now -- on US Airways flights, the airline will still charge $7 for alcoholic beverages and cocktails. The company also expects to generate from $400 to $500 million in 2009 from checked baggage fees, and charging for such niceties as premium seats, and pillows and blankets.

FMI: www.usairways.com