American Airlines to charge $15 for first checked bag

American Airlines is so deeply troubled (compounded by the crushing effects of inflated oil prices) it's now come to this: You'll have to pay 15 bucks to check your first piece of baggage when you choose it to fly the increasingly hostile skies.

This week American said it would axe about 12 percent of its flight schedule, layoff an undetermined number of workers, and retire some 50 planes (which had already been grounded for faulty wiring). The $15 bag fee comes on top of all of that and appears to be the only change the airline is making to actually generate more revenue.

The move comes a mere matter of days after many airlines put into place their plans to charge extra (usually $25) for a second checked bag. United's plan, announced in February, went into effect on May 5. As expected, other airlines rapidly jumped on that bandwagon shortly thereafter.

As yet, no other major airline has followed American in its first-bag fee scheme. The rest of the industry is probably just waiting to see if travelers start rioting in the terminal. Naturally, many expect that flyers will simply resort to trying to jam more luggage into the overhead bins in order to try to beat the fee.

Maybe a spot of good news for travelers: These fees are getting high and pervasive enough that they've raised the interest of the government, which says it will soon begin requiring airlines to disclose bag check fees in advertising and during the ticket buying process.