Is paying to check a bag on a flight a choicefc 777 casino login, or tantamount to extortion?
A group of senators and executives from five of America’s major airlines sparred over that question on Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which issued a report last month arguing that airline fees, for services like checking bags and choosing seats, had raised costs for passengers and left them without recourse.
“Passengers now are forced to pay extra for almost everything,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut and head of the subcommittee. He said customers felt like “piggy banks to be shaken down by these skyrocketing fees — that seem to have no connection to any costs that the airlines incur.”
The bipartisan group of senators was trying to crack down on the charges, which lawmakers call junk fees and airlines often frame as “unbundling.” Under the Biden administration, the Department of Transportation has worked to target them.
Last year, baggage fees alone totaled $7 billion across 14 carriers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The airline executives argued that the fees give consumers choices by letting them pay only for the things they want.
ImageExecutives from American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines defended charging fees for services like checking baggage and choosing seats as senators grilled them on Wednesday.Credit...Roberto Schmidt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“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 they do not need nor want,” said Andrew Nocella, the chief commercial officer of United Airlines, adding, “In our view, a one-size-fits-all travel model would deny lower-cost options to our customers.”
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