Airlines sure do love their fees, don’t they?
A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that domestic air carriers collected $7.1 billion in revenue from checked-bag and changed-reservations fees last year. The extra charges are helping the industry earn record profits.
The U.S. Transportation Department surprised the travel world last month by suspending the creation of an important new consumer-protection regulation.
It’s more than a decade since the airline industry, led by a then-ailing American Airlines, quietly stripped the ability to check your first bag at no extra cost from the price of an airline ticket — an act given the antiseptic name “unbundling.”
Don’t look now, but the airline industry is getting rich off fees. Very rich.
Calling it the “next phase” of unbundling, Spirit Airlines a few hours ago announced that it would begin charging passengers for carry-on luggage. Seriously.
