Senators on Wednesday harshly criticized rising airfares for baggage and seat reservations, saying airlines are looking for new ways to extract more money from passengers.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, criticized the airlines in a hearing with executives from American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier.
“Airlines these days look at their customers like walking piggy banks that are being shaken off every penny,” Blumenthal said.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley questioned why some airlines charge passengers different fees for baggage on the same flight.
“This is Russian roulette,” Hawley said. “No one enjoys flying on your airline. It's a disaster. … It's awful. It's just awful.”
A report released by Blumenthal last week revealed that the five airlines earned a total of $12.4 billion in revenue from seat fees from 2018 to 2023.
Blumenthal's committee spent a year investigating and found that carriers are increasingly using algorithms to set rates.
Blumenthal said airlines engage in customer-specific pricing to “discriminate against passengers and increase fares and charges for consumers who the airline believes will pay more.”
Airlines say prices need to be transparent and offer choice to consumers facing rising costs.
American Airlines Vice Chairman Steven Johnson said the airline needs to “appeal to our most budget-conscious customers.”
Delta Air Lines executive Peter Carter said the airline “offers options and value to all of our customers.” … Pricing practices that undermine customer trust and loyalty are not in our best interests. ”
United executive Andrew Nocera said eliminating family seats in 2023 and eliminating Wi-Fi fees next year would eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Blumenthal's committee found that low-cost airlines Frontier and Spirit paid gate agents and others $26 million in 2022 and 2023 to catch passengers who didn't pay baggage fees or carried oversized luggage. did.
According to the report, border officials can earn $10 for each piece of baggage a passenger must check in at the gate. Frontier CEO Barry Biffle defended the practice, telling Reuters that passengers who tried to avoid paying were shoplifting.
Matthew Klein, a Spirit executive, said the airline stopped paying employees who caught passengers on Sept. 30.
Earlier this year, airlines filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Department of Transportation's new rules on disclosing prepaid charges, and in 2018, airlines filed a lawsuit seeking to block a bipartisan bill requiring “reasonable and proportionate” baggage and change fees. We successfully lobbied against it.
