Spirit Airlines adds $5 boarding pass fee

MIRAMAR, Fla. - Spirit Airlines Inc. is adding a $5 fee if a gate agent has to print a passenger's boarding pass.

Spirit passengers can avoid the fee for now if they print their own boarding pass at home or use a check-in kiosk at the airport. But starting on June 26, 2012, Spirit said it will begin charging $1 to print a boarding pass at the airport kiosk, as well.

Spirit also said it is lowering fares by $5 each way.

The $5 boarding fee charge begins Nov. 1 for all flights purchased beginning on Tuesday. Spirit said it would waive the fee in cities where it does not have kiosks, or if a customer is not able to use the kiosk to print a boarding pass.

In August Spirit began charging as much as $45 for carry-on bags. It has said it wants to keep fares low and make up the difference by charging extra for things that some passengers don't want anyway. Spirit is a small airline that flies out of mostly East Coast cities through Florida and on to the Caribbean. So far, no other U.S. carriers have adopted a fee for carry-on bags.

Spirit's approach is similar to Irish discount airline Ryanair, the leading discount carrier in Europe. A judge in Spain has ruled that Ryanair's practice of charging for boarding passes violates international aviation agreements. Ryanair is appealing.

The Miramar, Fla., airline also said Monday that it appointed Tony Lefebvre as its senior vice president and chief operating officer, effective immediately. Lefebvre replaces Kenneth McKenzie, who has accepted a position at Airbus North America, Spirit said.

Lefebvre had previously served in the position of senior vice president-airports, customer service and inflight.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.