Senate report criticizes airlines for collecting billions in seat fees

A Senate subcommittee on Tuesday criticized U.S. airlines, large and small, for fees for selecting seats on flights.

Between 2018 and 2023 American, Delta, UnitedSpirit and Border generated $12.4 billion in seat fees, including seats with extra legroom, as well as those in “preferred” locations that are closer to the front of the plane, or window or aisle seats, according to the Subcommittee report Permanent Investigations of the Senate.

Last year, United’s revenue from seat fees totaled $1.3 billion, the first time since at least 2018 that that category surpassed revenue from checked baggage fees, according to the report.

While most major U.S. airlines have eliminated ticket change fees for standard economy tickets, they have added fees for selecting more popular or more spacious seats on board. Airlines have also been racing to add more premium seats on board to boost revenue.

Eliminating so-called junk fees has been a priority for the Biden administration. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman of the subcommittee, said airline executives have been called to testify about the practice at a Dec. 4 hearing called “The Sky’s the Limit: New Revelations About Airline Fees.” .

Airlines for America, a trade group representing the largest U.S. airlines, said air travel has become more affordable and customers can choose what they want to pay on board.

“The report demonstrates a clear failure by the subcommittee to understand the value that the highly competitive U.S. airline industry brings to customers and employees. Rather, the report serves as just another talking point about vacation travel,” the report said. cluster.

The report also criticizes low-cost airlines Spirit and Frontier, saying they paid gate agents $26 million between 2022 and 2023 to “catch passengers who allegedly did not follow the airline’s baggage policies, which often forced those passengers to pay a baggage fee or miss their flight.”

Spirit said in a statement that it is “transparent about our products and pricing, our airport policies ensure guests are treated fairly and equitably, and we comply with all tax laws and regulations.”

Frontier said the commissions for door agents are “simply designed to incentivize our team members to ensure compliance with bag size requirements so that all customers are treated equitably and fairly, including the majority who complies with the rules.”