April 22, 2008
Skycaps sue US Airways over tips lost to curbside fee

By LIANE M. KUFCHOCK
Bloomberg News
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - US Airways Group Inc. and a contractor were sued by three skycaps who seek to recover tips lost since the airline started charging customers a fee for curbside baggage check-in.
US Airways, based in Tempe, Ariz., imposed the $2 fee last year, according to the complaint filed April 11 in federal court in Boston.
The skycaps, who seek class-action status to sue as a group, claim their compensation fell below the U.S. minimum wage because customers thought the fee was a tip.
"This is a case of corporate greed," Mikel D. Jones, a Philadelphia attorney representing the workers, said today in a phone interview.
The suit also names Prime Flight Aviation Services Inc., the Nashville-based contractor hired by US Airways to provide the curbside service.
AMR Corp.'s American Airlines lost a similar case in the same court on April 7, when a federal jury awarded nine Massachusetts skycaps $350,000 the airline had collected after instituting a $2 curbside bag fee in 2005.
Under U.S. law, workers who are compensated mostly with tips can be paid less than minimum wage by their employer, Jones said.
The suit claims the defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by paying the skycaps between $2 and $3 an hour, even though tips no longer bring their wages up to the federal minimum of $5.85 an hour.
US Airways officials didn't immediately return a call for comment. Neither did Kari Harris, a Prime Flight spokeswoman.
US Airways fell 20 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $7.83 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after hours.
The shares have fallen 83 percent in the past year.
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