When I read the article on the attitude of Ben Baldanza, CEO of Spirit Airlines, in the New York Times business section this weekend entitled Don't Come Crying To This Airline I was blown away.  How brazen.  The word the article used was outrageous.

Here on The Window Seat, you've read a lot about the woes of the airline industry over the past year. Baggage fees were perhaps the hottest topic of 2008, generating grumbles heard 'round the world and provoking sour comments from our readers. Well, as Ben Mutzabaugh writes in his Today in the Sky blog, "grumble if you like, but checked-bag fees may mean less lost luggage."

If you can remember back a couple of years ago, airlines were carrying record numbers of passengers and lost baggage rates were the worst they've ever been. However, 2008 marked a massive improvement with domestic carriers losing 1.3 million fewer bags than in the previous year.

You’re in the middle of the sky and you’ve just drank your soda and well, you gotta go. Today, we take it for granted that we can just saunter on down to the back of the plane and take care of business. Well, now someone may make big business out of taking care of business. Ryanair, to be exact, is mulling over whether or not to add a bathroom fee in-flight in the form of a coin slot on each bathroom door.

As passengers, we’ve had a lot of things taken away from us over the years. We now have to pay to check our bags, pay to have pillows and blankets, pay for snacks, and so on. But to have to pay to pee?! Really Ryanair? What next?

The headline: US Airways to Charge for Pillows.
My first thought: More airline fees?!

Then I began to rationalize this charge and concluded that $7 is a small price to pay to stay healthy. From a wellness perspective, who wants a snotty blanket and pillow that some other passenger has drooled (or worse) all over during the previous flight?

Not me. On a recent flight from DEN to SFO, I sat next to a mother and her daughter, who was probably 2-years-old. The child proceeded to eat cheesy Doritos during the flight, and then upchucked down the window of the plane, and yes, onto the airline-provided blanket. The next passenger was in for a surprise.

United Airlines canceled its plans to increase the second checked baggage fee to $50, announcing that customers will continue to pay only $25 for the second bag ($15 for the first). Starting today, the carrier is giving travelers the option to pay these fees online to save time at the airport.

As an added baggage service, United also recently launched its new Door-to-Door Baggage program, enabling customers to ship their suitcases directly to their destination if traveling within the continental United States.

Delta today became the last of the six legacy carriers to implement a fee for the first checked bag. For traffic on or after Dec. 5, passengers on domestic flights will be charged $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second checked bag.

Several policy changes have followed last week’s Delta and Northwest merger announcement as the two carriers begin to streamline their operations.

Oh Canada! Yay for your national airline! Air Canada announced today they would remove the second-checked bag fee of $25.

"Although the cost of fuel remains highly volatile and far above historic norms, the recent retreat in oil prices is enabling us to reinstate our previous baggage policy. We are eliminating the second checked bag charge on North American Tango and Tango Plus fares, reflecting our customers' expressed preferences. Further, Air Canada is making its pricing more transparent by removing add-on fuel surcharges for flights within North America and instead adjusting its base fares to cover the total cost of fuel," said Ben Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer.

Tuesday's Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) "Oil Is Cheaper, But Airline Fees Are Here to Stay," suggested that airlines had long hoped to move to an a la carte pricing system in an effort to increase revenue from passengers and high oil prices gave them the way to do just that.

In stark contrast, United Airlines recently announced the charge to check a second piece of baggage would double to $50 for tickets purchased on or after September 16, 2008.

For a complete list of baggage fees by airline, bookmark this handy chart.

United Airlines announced Monday that it will begin charging passengers $50 to check a second piece of luggage for tickets purchased as of September 16 for travel commencing November 10. The carrier had previously announced a $25 charge for the second checked bag. The decision to double the fee was, according to the Associated Press (via MSNBC.com), in part die to "volatile" fuel prices.

United charges $15 for the first piece of checked luggage.

Delta Airlines also charges $50 for the second piece of checked luggage; the carrier does not charge for the first checked bag. For a complete list of baggage fees by airline, see our Comparison Chart.

Continental Airlines has become the fifth legacy carrier to charge $15 for the first piece of checked luggage. The airline already charges $25 for the second-checked bag. As is the policy for the other carriers, elite members of the airline's frequent-flier program and those traveling in business and first class will not have to pay for their checked baggage.

The move leaves Delta Airlines as the lone legacy carrier not charging for the first-checked bag. However, Delta charges twice what the others do for the second piece of checked luggage -- $50 each way.

Click here to read my top five ways to avoid baggae fees.

Continental has also ended its policy of awarding a minimum of 500 frequent-flier miles, regardless of the actual distance traveled. Now, members of Continental's OnePass program will earn actual miles traveled only.

Click here to read baggage policies by carrier.

As travelers, there's not much we can do about what's happening with the airline industry right now. But, we can at least laugh about it. In his blog, Chris Elliot wrote a piece called What’s so funny about airline fees? Everything!, highlighting videos that make fun of the airline industry. Check it out.