US Senator Blasts Airlines for Viewing Passengers as 'Walking Piggy Banks' [View all]
Source: US News and World Report/Reuters
Dec. 4, 2024, at 5:08 a.m.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a U.S. Senate panel harshly criticized rising airline fees for luggage and seat assignments, saying carriers are looking for new ways to extract more money from passengers.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is convening a hearing Wednesday titled "The Sky’s the Limit -- New Revelations About Airline Fees" with American Airlines, United Airlines Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier executives testifying.
"Airlines these days view their customers as little more than walking piggy banks to be shaken down for every possible dime," Blumenthal said in prepared remarks.
A report released by Blumenthal last week disclosed the five airlines collectively earned $12.4 billion in revenue from seat fees between 2018 and 2023. Blumenthal's panel spent a year investigating, finding carriers are increasingly using algorithms to set fees and said some carriers may be avoiding federal transportation excise taxes by labeling some charges as nontaxable fees.
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2024-12-04/us-senator-blasts-airlines-for-viewing-passengers-as-walking-piggy-banks
= new reply since forum marked as read