Carriers Collected $4.2 Billion in 2016 Baggage Fees
Ryan Boyd May 03, 2017
The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has released figures showing that in 2016, domestic carriers made a combined $4.2 billion dollars in fees from passengers who paid to have bags checked, accounting for approximately 2.5 percent of the airline industry’s $168.2 billion operating revenue for the same year.
The topic of rising fees for checked baggage was one of many that came up during Congressional hearings last week with airline executives.
“We’ve heard a lot about pricing today, about fares being lower than they were 25 years ago […] The fact is that obscures fees we didn’t used to pay. Every day there are higher and higher fees. Passengers are getting gouged,” said former airline executive William McGee during the hearings.
To read more on this story, go to Business Traveller.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
