| Spirit Airlines adds $5 boarding pass fee and Texas governor sets sights on airport 'groping' bill |
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MIRAMAR, Fla. — Spirit Airlines Inc. is adding a $5 fee if a gate agent has to print a passenger's boarding pass.Air travelers continue to be dissatisfied with the flying experience, according to a new report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which evaluates the quality of U.S. products and services.Spirit passengers can avoid the fee for now if they print their own boarding pass at home or use a check-in kiosk at the airport. But starting on June 26, 2012, Spirit said it will begin charging $1 to print a boarding pass at the airport kiosk, as well.The $5 boarding fee charge begins Nov. 1 for all flights purchased beginning on Tuesday. Spirit said it would waive the fee in cities where it does not have kiosks, or if a customer is not able to use the kiosk to print a boarding pass.In August Spirit began charging as much as $45 for carry-on bags. [Read the full article] Air travelers continue to be dissatisfied with the flying experience, according to a new report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which evaluates the quality of U.S. products and services.The report, released Tuesday, shows that passenger satisfaction with airlines has dropped 1.5 percent to a score of 65 on a 100-point scale – tied with newspapers for the lowest score among all 47 industries that ACSI surveys. Business travelers, which represent the most profitable segment for airlines, were the least satisfied filers with a score of 61.David VanAmburg, managing director for ACSI, said that higher airfares and fees, coupled with a consistently poor air travel experience, are fueling customer frustrations.Rich Accordino, left, and Juan Perez-Wheeler remove a sign with the old Continental Airlines logo to reveal the new United Airlines logo featuring Continental's blue globe May 17 at a ticket counter at O'Hare International Airport. [Read the full article] ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — An airliner crashed in heavy fog and burst into flames about a mile short of a runway in northwestern Russia, killing 44 people, officials said. Eight survivors were dragged from the burning wreckage by locals.The Tupolev 134 plane, belonging to the RusAir airline, was en route from Moscow to the city of Petrozavodsk, Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Oksana Semyonova said.The plane's approach was too low, so it clipped a tree and then hit a high-power line " causing Besovets airport's runway lights to go off for 10 seconds " before slamming into the ground, said Sergei Izvolsky, a spokesman for the Russian air transport agency.The emergencies ministry said 44 people were killed, including four with dual U.S. and Russian citizenship. Russian news agencies said Russian Premier League soccer referee Vladimir Pettay and a Swedish citizen were also among the victims. [Read the full article] 
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