Paying for That Aisle Seat

I've long argued that raising prices are usually the only way to deal with scarcity. Most of my rants have been about underpriced Red Sox tickets. I also argued over a year ago that airlines should auction aisle seats.

Hence I was pleased to see that Northwest is now charging more for aisle and exit row seats. It's an extra $15, which I'm more than willing to pay for a long flight. Most passengers seem pleased with this, but a few are complaining. One person quoted in the article says, "I am totally for raising fares a few bucks per passenger. Instead, we're getting fee'd to death." If we followed his logic, restaurants would have a surcharge for all patrons so they could give expensive wine to a random few!

I hope airlines start charging for large carry-ons next.