Southwest Airlines will start charging customers who miss their flight from next year onward.
Usually if a customer misses their Southwest Airlines flight they can get a credit for the full amount of the ticket to use on a later flight.
The airline says that in 2013 it will charge fees on customers who don't show up for flights and have failed to cancel their tickets ahead of time. That's a shift from a longstanding policy by the carrier of letting people who miss flights apply the cost of the unused ticket toward future travel.
Such a "no-show fee" is just one way that fees in the air travel industry have been rising, and it comes as basic fares have also been going up.
Company officials said the new fee will start next year, but they didn't give an exact date or say how much the fee will be.
Southwest also plans to increase fees it already charges, such as for early check-in and overweight bags. Its AirTran Airways subsidiary will raise bag fees in February.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Southwest executive vice president Bob Jordan said it has decided "to tighten the flexibility around our most restrictive ticket."
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the no-show fee will bring the airline into closer alignment with policies of other airlines, and can benefit customers, too.
"By our research, customers understand that we all could benefit - customers and the company - from the opportunity to resell a seat," Mr. Kelly said Friday, according to the Associated Press. "Once the airplane takes off and [a seat] is empty, we can't ever reclaim that."
Other rising fees at Southwest include charges for checking a third bag. Unlike most rivals, it lets passengers check two bags for no charge beyond the initial ticket price.
