Airlines Face Harsh Questioning From Senators Over 'Junk' Fees

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:15 PM ET, Wed December 4, 2024

Airline representatives faced scrutiny in Washington D.C. on Wednesday for the ever-expanding list of fees travelers pay when flying.

In recent years, airlines have begun charging for everything from reserving a seat that offers more legroom to early boarding. These fees are in addition to the many other additional costs travelers have been paying for years now, such as checked bag fees and the penalties paid when changing tickets.

All of these costs have provided a very valuable ancillary revenue stream for airlines.

In fact, in 2023, U.S. airlines collected more than $7 billion from checked bag fees. (American Airlines and United collected more on these fees than any other airline, per Associated Press.) Similarly, airlines collected another $1 billion last year for ticket change and cancellation fees, according to the Associated Press.

This reality triggered harsh criticism from members of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, who grilled representatives from five airlines over the proliferation of fees that were once part of the upfront airline ticket price.

In particular. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said during the Wednesday hearing that the federal government should review and fine airlines for “junk fees.”

Blumenthal suggested the fees are pure profit for airlines because carriers do not need to create new seats each time the fee is charged or incur any other expenses at all when allowing customers to pick where they want to sit on an airplane.

Members of the senate subcommittee were also less than pleased when airline representatives were unable to break down how the various fees are set.

“We’re all captives on your airplanes at a certain point. You just say, ‘You want to pick a seat? We’re just going to charge you some random amount more,’” Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said, according to the Associated Press. “It would be good if you guys could be transparent about what you do and why.”

While the fees may be irritating, they are certainly not dampening the enthusiasm for travel. A record number of Americans are taking flights.

Data from The Transportation Security Administration reveals that TSA screened nearly 3.1 million travelers at airports nationwide on the Sunday after Thanksgiving this year, per the Associated Press. That’s a new single-day record. Furthermore, the busiest 15 days in TSA history were all in 2024.

Airline executives who were on the hot seat on Capitol Hill Wednesday countered that the variety of itemized fees allow travelers to pay for only what they want when flying.

“Our customers who prioritize affordability have the option to choose a lower-fare product and, in doing so, opt out of paying for additional services that they do not want,” Andrew Nocella, the chief commercial officer of United Airlines, said according to the Associated Press. “But we also have customers who seek more services, and they retain the ability to choose the services they value, for an incremental fee, like a seat with extra legroom or checked bags.”

However, Nocella did agree that the fees should not be a surprise to travelers and that they should be transparent.

Still, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., offered harsh words for budget carriers like Frontier and Spirit, who offer employees bonuses in exchange for singling out travelers with carry-on bags that are too large, requiring those customers to pay yet another fee. Spirit, for instance, charges anywhere from $15 to $77 for such instances, the Associated Press reported.

“If people want to know why it’s such a terrible experience to fly, this is news for them today,” Hawley said during today’s hearing. “Your airlines are paying millions of dollars to your employees to harass people who have already paid!”