• MSNBC, Tuesday, September 22, 2009 11:30 AM

Airlines squeezed by the recession, high fuel prices and the impact of swine flu threats on travel patterns are playing a delicate juggling act with the added fees they are tacking on to passengers airfares for everything from checking a bag to borrowing a pillow, Allison Linn reports.

"It's very much a balance of what customers are asking for, in terms of entertainment, and what we need to do in terms of sustaining the airline," says Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec.

The reality is that while flyers complain about the additional fees, they seem willing to accept them as long as ticket prices stay low. "Consumers love to bellyache and whine and then, of course, they go straight to the Web site and click on the lowest price," says Richard Aboulafia, a vp with Teal Group.

But there's only so far harried travelers can be pushed. After testing whether they could get away with charging customers for staples such as coffee and water, US Airways has returned to offering them for free.

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