Senate report slams airlines for raking in billions in seat fees

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

Between 2018 and 2023 American, Delta, UnitedSpirit and Border provided $12.4 billion in seating fees, including for seats with extra legroom and for seats in “preferred locations” closer to the front of the plane, or window or aisle seats, the Permanent Subcommittee report said Senate investigation.

Last year, United's revenue from seating fees totaled $1.3 billion, the first time since at least 2018 that the category exceeded revenue from checked bags, the report said.

While most major U.S. airlines have eliminated ticket change fees for standard economy tickets, they have added additional fees to select more popular or roomier seats on board. Carriers are also racing to add more premium seats on board to increase 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 for on board.

“The report clearly demonstrates that the subcommittee has failed to understand the value that the highly competitive U.S. airline industry provides to customers and employees. Rather, the report serves as yet another talking point about leisure travel,” the group said.

The report also criticized budget airlines Spirit and Frontier, saying they paid gate agents $26 million between 2022 and 2023 to “catch passengers who allegedly did not adhere to airline bag policies, often forcing those passengers to pay baggage fees.” pay or miss their flight.”

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

Frontier said gate agent commissions are “simply intended to incentivize our team members to ensure compliance with bag size requirements so that all customers are treated equally and fairly, including the majority who are compliant.”