Senators Grill Airline Executives Over Junk Fees

U.S. Senators questioned airline executives Wednesday over the use of junk fees for seating, baggage, early boarding and other perks.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, the chair of the Senate subcommittee on investigations, urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to investigate airlines for potentially evading taxes on airfares and consumer rights regulations. 

“[Customers] feel like they are piggybanks just to be shaken down by these skyrocketing fees that seem to have no connection to any costs that the airlines incur,” Blumenthal said. 

Last week, the Senate subcommittee released a report that was highly critical of airlines adding fees to seat selection and checked-in baggage, ancillary offerings that were once included in the airfare. The report found that American, Delta, United, Spirit and Frontier collected $12.4 billion from seating fees between 2018 and 2023. 

The hearing featured testimony from Steve Johnson, American’s chief strategy officer;