JetBlue: $7 For Pillow & Blanket

More jet fuel fallout:

JetBlue Airways Corp. said Monday it will begin charging customers for pillows and blankets. The carrier has done away with the recycled blankets and pillows used on its flights, and will begin offering an "eco-friendly" travel blanket and pillow that can be purchased for $7 on flights longer than two hours. A JetBlue spokeswoman declined to predict how much the sale of these kits will bring in, saying that the company only provides revenue details for specific items in its quarterly earnings conference calls. The carrier said last month it expects to collect about $40 million from customers buying seats with extra leg room this year. Its $15 fee for a second checked bag is expected to translate into about $20 million in additional revenue. A ticket change fee, which doubled to $100 in the second quarter, is part of a "basket of fee changes" expected to produce about $50 million in extra revenue in 2008.

I find those tiny pillows useless for sleeping anyway and if I can remember to do it, I'll sometimes just a buy a cheapie big pillow to use and throw away later. On the other hand, at least now on JetBlue you'll get a new pillow that's free of stranger cooties. In other airline fee news: US Air has done away with free soda and water ($2 each now), and Delta has doubled the fee for a second checked bag to $50.