American Airlines — the sixth largest carrier at BWI airport — will be hiking many of their fees starting June 15.

Recently, several airlines started charging for a second checked bag. American is taking those fees one step further, and will be charging $15 per passenger for the first checked bag. They are also increasing fees for phone reservations, pets, and oversized bags, among other things. Although AA is trying to make the fee increases appear minimal by upping each by as little as $5, the new charges are hoped to increase their annual revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars.

American also plans to cut domestic service by about 12 percent in the fourth quarter of this year. They blame the increased fees and reduced capacity on fuel costs. (And really, what hasn’t been blamed on that lately?)

AA’s CEO explained: “The airline industry as it is constituted today was not built to withstand oil prices at $125 a barrel.”

I feel their pain — a bit. Still it seems that they’re doing something wrong. A number of low-cost carriers, both here and overseas, manage to thrive despite economic conditions. What will they charge us for next — pay toilets, seat cushions, a life vest surcharge?

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