Do you grumble every time you have to fork out more and more dollars for every checked bag at the airport? If so, you now know who is to blame.
John Thomas, 54, of Needham, Massachusetts, is the airline consultant who introduced the charges to North America in 2008. He now uses a private jet or takes carry-on bags.
Thomas explained his reasons to the Boston Globe. And some experts believe the fees kept several airline carriers in business at a difficult time for the industry.
Expensive annoyance: Baggage fees were introduced in North America in 2008 and they show no sign of going away
Instigator: John Thomas is the consultant who introduced the charges that are credited with keeping some carriers in business
Jay Sorensen, president of a travel consulting called IdeaWorksCompany told the Boston Globe that the fees created a 'tsunami of money.'
'I would credit bag fees with saving the industry that year,' Sorensen added.
Thomas, originally from Australia, works for LEK Consulting, a UK-based firm, and five years ago he was asked to come up with idea to make more money for the ailing industry.
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Airlines suffered losses after the 9/11 attacks, and things still looked bad in 2007 when oil prices rose to record levels.
Online customers were also getting increasingly savvier. As a result, several airlines were near collapse. 'They were looking at certain economic death,' Thomas told the Boston Globe.
Carriers in Europe had imposed baggage fees a few years earlier and Thomas advised North American airlines to start charging in 2008.
Expensive business: Luggage is piled up by an aircraft, that every customer has probably paid extra for
Thomas had some convincing to do at first, as executives worried the charges might scare passengers off, and that only some companies would introduce the fees.
But he shouldn't have worried. Once United Airlines introduced a $25 fee for the second checked bag in February 2008, the domino effect started in earnest.
US Airways followed suit within a fortnight and now all major carriers except Southwest and JetBlue charge to check in your first bag.
Yet as the Globe pointed out, they don't affect Thomas - due his success he either flies on a private jet or just uses carry-on.
Alternative method: This easiest way of avoiding luggage charges is by cramming your possessions into the overhead lockers
As passengers became resigned to the baggage fees, airlines also found ways of charging for other things that had previously been free.
Perks such as speedy boarding, increased legroom and window seats may now all cost extra cash.
The Globe reported that between 2008 and 2011, non-ticket revenue jumped from $10.3 billion to $22.6 billion.
Thomas hasn't stopped imagining new ways for airlines to make money, however.
Among other areas such as gambling, he's currently considering how free Wi-Fi services to passengers could provide an advertising revenue stream.