Don't be late if you're checking bags on US Airways
USA TODAY, 10/04/2006
US Airways is tightening its rules on checked-in luggage. Beginning today, "US Airways won't check your luggage if there's less than 45 minutes until your scheduled flight time, the company said Tuesday. In fact, the airline won't even check you in, so don't try to muscle that humongous bag onto the belt at the security checkpoint hoping to check it at the gate," writes the East Valley Tribune of Mesa, Ariz. The paper writes that US Airways is putting that policy into effect at "Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and a few other big hubs like Dallas and Washington Dulles." US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder says: "We want you and your luggage to arrive on the same flight. If you show up just 30 minutes before your flight, we'll rebook you on a later flight." What if you show up an hour in advance but get stuck in long check-in lines? Wunder says the carrier will try to accommodate those passengers by allowing anyone nearing the 45-minute cutoff to move to the front of the line in front of fliers with later flights.