Senate Report Challenges Airline Seat/Baggage Fees

A panel from the U.S. Senate reported today that airline fees for seat assignments and luggage are on the rise and called for airline executives to testify on Dec. 4. The hearing, titled “The Sky’s the Limit – New Revelations About Airline Fees” will be convened by Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. He is the chair of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and has summoned executives from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines to testify.

According to Senator Blumenthal’s report, between 2018 and 2023, the five airlines have collected $12.5 billion in revenue from seat fees, alone. United notched $2.3 billion in seat fees last year—and more than $1.2 billion in checked-baggage fees. According to the one-year Blumenthal investigation, carriers have collectively been using computer algorithms to set their seat and baggage fees, targeting passengers based on customer information, according to a Reuters report. The report added that “some carriers may be avoiding federal transportation excise taxes by labeling some charges as nontaxable fees.”

According to the Reuters reporting, the Blumenthal committee further found that “ultra-low-cost carriers Frontier and Spirit paid $26 million to gate agents and others between 2022 and 2023 to catch passengers allegedly not paying for bag fees or having oversized items [and] Frontier personnel can earn as much as $10 for each bag a passenger is forced to check at the gate.”

Airlines have filed suit trying to block a recent U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) rule mandating upfront disclosure of airline fees. Airline CEOs in 2018 successfully lobbied against bipartisan legislation to mandate "reasonable and proportional" baggage and change fees.