Rising airline seat fees force US Senate panel to summon executives

WASHINGTON, D.C.: A U.S. Senate panel has announced plans to summon airline executives for a hearing on December 4, concerned about rising airline fees for seat assignments and baggage.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, will lead the session titled "The Sky's the Limit - New Revelations About Airline Fees," featuring senior executives from American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, and Frontier Airlines.

Blumenthal's investigation, which lasted a year, revealed that these five airlines collectively generated US$12.4 billion from seat fees between 2018 and 2023. Notably, in 2022, United Airlines earned $1.3 billion from seat fees-surpassing its $1.2 billion revenue from checked baggage fees.

The report also highlighted airlines' growing reliance on algorithms to determine fee pricing, often based on customer data. It raised concerns that some airlines might be exploiting federal transportation excise tax loopholes by categorizing certain charges as non-taxable fees.

Ultra-low-cost carriers Frontier and Spirit were found to have paid $26 million to gate agents and staff between 2022 and 2023 for identifying passengers allegedly evading bag fees or carrying oversized items. At Frontier, gate agents could earn up to $10 per bag identified and checked at the gate. Frontier defended the policy, stating it ensures compliance with baggage size rules to promote fairness for all passengers. Spirit and United declined to comment.

Blumenthal criticized the lack of transparency around such practices, urging Congress to mandate detailed disclosures of airline fees and calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to investigate incentive-based fee collection.

Blumenthal's findings have amplified calls for greater accountability, as the hearing aims to illuminate the evolving landscape of airline fee practices.

The Airlines for America trade group countered that optional fees offer flexibility, adding that average domestic round-trip fares (including fees) were 14 percent lower in 2023 than in 2010 when adjusted for inflation. Delta emphasized its commitment to offering fare options tailored to customers' needs.

Meanwhile, airlines are resisting stricter regulations. They filed a lawsuit to block a USDOT rule requiring upfront fee disclosures and, in 2018, successfully lobbied against bipartisan legislation that sought to ensure baggage and change fees were "reasonable and proportional."