Spirit Airlines recently announced the implementation of a new plan that will charge passengers as much as $45 each way for a carry-on bag starting Aug. 1. Personal items like purses and laptop computers that fit under the seat will still be free.
The reaction from the blogosphere, from industry watchers, and from attention-seeking politicians was to be expected.
How dare they charge for carry on bags? This is insane, I will never fly them again? What's next, charging passengers variable fares based on how much they weigh, or how many magazines they bring on board? I mean, have you seen how big and heavy some of those fashion magazines are? 
Flickr - Lori Spindler
Personally, while I think the fees for carry-on bags are probably a bad idea, will serve to drive customers to seek other alternatives, and certainly have generated a wave of bad publicity, Spirit is a for profit enterprise, and they are certainly free to make any decisions they like as to marketing and pricing. Airlines have been going down the path of decoupling fees for a while now, under the notion that people will prefer more control and transparency about what specific benefits they are paying for. Why we seem to feel offended by the airlines charging separately for food, drinks, bags, etc., while most of us month after month quietly pay our Cable TV bills, paying for dozens if not hundreds of channels we never actually watch is kind of curious.
To me, why this is interesting is how executive strategy and decisions have a trickle down effect throughout the organization, and how they will impact the front line workforce that will be tasked with the implementation and enforcement of these new fees. While the odd passenger or politician may craft a strongly worded letter (gasp!), to the CEO and issue a complaint, the reservations people, the gate agents, and the flight attendants will all be face to face with scores of potentially frustrated and angry customers.
These folks not only have difficult jobs already, but in many ways they are the face of the brand, each one personally interacting with hundreds of customers each day. When the organization creates policies that clearly will have the effect of alienating a large contingent of customers, it makes the jobs of these brand ambassadors even more challenging and likely, less fulfilling.
By creating rules that force these employees to do more enforcement, to say 'no', and to otherwise have more of an adversarial relationship with customers, they have less and less of an opportunity to engage in behaviors that can actually deliver excellent customer service. I can't imagine that many gate agents and flight attendants look forward to the idea of playing 'baggage police' day after day.
Sure, the analysts, politicians, and pundits are all annoyed about Spirit's new plan, but I'd be more curious to know what the front-line employees think. Do they look forward to the day where every interaction with a customer comes with a price tag? Will there be any further opportunity for them to go above and beyond, to ever deliver some good news, to ever say 'Yes' to a customer?
Executive decisions matter, not only to customers, but to every employee tasked with their implementation.
Footnote: Recently I was on a flight where the flight attendant rattled off a list of items that were available for purchase - food, drinks, headphones, etc. At the end of the speech he added, 'Oxygen is Complimentary'. It was kind of funny, but sad at the same time.