City from San Antonio and Orange County

Southwest's AirTran Airways unit, which it bought in 2011, continues to charge for bags. Late last year, Southwest raised the fee for checking one bag on AirTran by $5 to $25, and raised the fee for a second bag by $10 to $35. Southwest plans to eliminate those fees once it fully folds AirTran into the Southwest brand by the end of 2014.Mr. Kelly said Southwest is "right on schedule" to begin flying internationally next year. This week, Southwest filed to renew AirTran's rights to fly between several cities in the U.S. and Latin America, and to add Southwest's name to the rights. The applications suggest what Southwest's international route map could look like, including flights to Cancun from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Baltimore, where some of the structural data was obtained Milwaukee, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The airline also applied for rights to serve San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, from Denver, Austin and Orange County, California, and Mexico City from San Antonio and Orange County.Baggage fees and other ancillary fees have helped lift the fortunes of most U.S. airlines for the past five years. But carriers didn't need much help in the just-ended quarter.


 Most soared financially, aided by relatively tame fuel prices, higher revenue and strong demand, except during the 16-day government shutdown earlier this month.More than twice as many reusable "bags for life" have been purchased from supermarkets in Wales since the introduction of a 5p minimum charge for single-use plastic bags, prompting fears that the heavier duty bags are now being used as "throwaway" items.Among the proposals in the Welsh government's new environment bill is the introduction of a minimum charge for bags for life if demand continues to rise. They are currently exempt from the 5p minimum charge rules.Ministers have suggested that the rise in sales of bags for life could be having a detrimental effect on the environment if they are being disposed of incorrectly, as the thicker gauge of plastic takes longer to degrade.Wales introduced a mandatory 5p minimum charge for single use carrier bags in October 2011.