Senators press airlines on added 'junk fees' for luxuries like seat selection and bags

Democrats on the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Wednesday grilled airline officials for adding "junk fees" to flights by charging customers extra for selecting their own seat on a flight or upgrading the seat.

The subcommittee published a report last month on the so-called "junk fees" which found that American Airlines, Delta, United, Spirit, and Frontier brought in a total of $12.4 billion in seating fees between 2018 and 2023. 

Representatives of those five major U.S. airlines were present at Wednesday's hearing.

The subcommittee's chairman, Democrat Richard Blumenthal, said that he believes the federal government should review the added fees and consider fining the airlines.

Other senators encouraged the airlines to be more transparent in why they've added the extra costs, and noted that extra costs make it harder for Americans to budget their travels, the Associated Press reported.

“We’re all captives on your airplanes at a certain point. You just say, ‘You want to pick seat? We’re just going to charge you some random amount more,’” New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan said. “It would be good if you guys could be transparent about what you do and why.”

Airline executives rejected the criticism in their testimonies, maintaining that the extra costs are optional for travelers.

“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 that they do not want,” United Airlines' chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella testified. “But we also have customers who seek more services, and they retain the ability to choose the services they value, for an incremental fee, like a seat with extra legroom or checked bags.”

Despite the criticism, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported that Sunday broke the record for largest number of people screened in a single day, with nearly 3.09 million air travelers screened. The previous record was set in July.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.