Airports lose revenue as travelers shun luggage carts
The rolling revolution in suitcases is idling those airline terminal luggage carts, costing airports and cart rental companies millions of dollars in revenue.
The demand for airport luggage carts, which has been steadily declining with the growing popularity of wheeled luggage, has dropped further now that airline baggage fees are forcing passengers to travel lighter.
At Los Angeles International Airport, cart rentals once provided at least $2.75 million in annual revenue. Now, the airport is losing nearly $1 million a year under a deal that obligates it to provide free carts to foreign travelers.
The same scenario is playing out across the country. Airports in New York, Seattle, Phoenix,[url=http://www.glomaconj@#$%&]jimmy choo handbags and the 6[/url], Las Vegas and Tampa, Fla., are among those saying cart concessions either aren't the cash cows they used to be or have turned from a source of income to an expense.
"That is the nationwide trend: More and more people don't use luggage carts," said Sven Stohn, chief executive of Bagport Group, which runs cart rentals at airports in Philadelphia, Boston and Phoenix. "Through the past two years, I think revenue has dropped up to 23 percent."
Wheels have been on suitcases for decades, but the design took off after Northwest Airlines pilot Bob Plath came up with the idea for a suitcase in 1987 with built in wheels and an extendable tow handle.
"All of our luggage has wheels on them, except the small carry on bags," said Stephanie Goldman, a spokeswoman for Samsonite, one of the world's largest luggage manufacturers.
Making do
And now that passengers are packing fewer belongings to avoid airline baggage fees,[url=http://www.mlmatrix@#$%&/guestbook.asp]moncler ou[/url], travelers say it is largely unnecessary to pay between $3 and $5 to rent airport luggage carts.
Jim Slade of Huntington Beach, Calif., recently flew from Los Angeles to Montana to visit friends for five days. There was a time when he might have packed a big suitcase. But with the advent of luggage fees,[url=http://recit.cscapitale.qc.ca/~clj/journalfbc/spip.php?article10]Ralph Lauren Polo 1 dead after fire at Jonesboro apartment complex[/url], he made do with a small carry on bag with built in wheels.
"Now that the airlines charge to check bags, I fly with less," he said.
Near the Delta Air Lines Inc. counter at LAX recently, Jessica Laub of New York had just arrived for a visit with family, pulling a suitcase on wheels and a carry on bag. She said she packs very little to avoid luggage fees, and she even left a pair of skis with her family in Los Angeles to avoid paying to take them back and forth with her to New York.
"I haven't used a cart in years," she said.
Smarte Carte Inc. is the nation's largest luggage cart rental firm, serving at least 150 airports in North America, including Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The St.
Airport officials say Smarte Carte asked for more favorable terms for its cart concession,[url=http://www.scarpe-hoganoutlet.it/]hogan[/url], saying the privately held company has seen revenue drop 30 percent nationwide since 2007. The change will slash annual revenue paid by Smarte Carte from $57,000 to about $9,660, officials estimate.
D/FW Airport for years had a contract that required Smarte Carte to pay a minimum guarantee and a portion of revenue above that.
But with Smarte Carte unable to reach even the minimums, the airport decided in 2010 to make the arrangement simply a service contract; Smarte Contract agreed to provide the luggage carts and would keep any money.
Separately, the airport board contracts with Smarte Carte to supply carts for free to travelers in Terminal D, the international facility.
"It's standard in your high level European and Asian international airports that international travelers get the luggage carts for free," D/FW spokesman Dave Magaa said.
No comeback seen
Airport officials see little chance that luggage carts will come back into fashion anytime soon. In addition to adding wheels and collapsible handles, luggage makers have also reduced the size of most bags to help passengers avoid the fees charged by airlines to check bags or to haul overweight luggage.
The fees are substantial. In 2010, the nation's largest airlines collected $3.4 billion in fees from passengers who checked luggage, a 24 percent increase over 2009, according to federal statistics.
"Sales of big, oversize bags and cases are definitely on the decline, especially in the last few years as airlines have vigorously enforced overweight and oversize baggage fees," said Michele Marini Pittenger, president of the Travel Goods Association, a trade group for luggage manufacturers and other travel products.
Stohn, the Bagport luggage cart CEO, said he hopes his company will thrive by branching out into other airport services. For example, his company operates the lost and found desk at London's Heathrow Airport. Smarte Carte also operates massage chairs and cellphone charging stations at many airports.
Until those new revenue sources take off, cart companies and airports are left with a shrinking number of passengers, like Patsy Ralston, who still rent carts.
Ralston, of Irvine, Calif., was at LAX recently, piling large, wheeled suitcases onto a cart. She said she needed the cart to help get all of her belongings on the plane as she prepared to move to Oregon.