Airline traffic decreases as fees fatten
by Dave on 28/09/09 at 9:50 am
It’s a well-known fact that airline traffic has seriously decreased due to the economical recession. But U.S. airlines have found a way to increase their profit margin in spite of this fact – they are making more money by fattening their extra fees.
In the first six months of 2009, U.S. airlines made $3.8 billion for checking bags, canceling or rebooking flights, carrying pets and seats assignment, says a report from the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
This means an increase of $2.3 billion compared to the same time of 2008.
Everyone has noticed that airline fees are much higher this year than before.
And the most profitable fees are those for checked-in baggages, bringing in $669 million in April, May and June (a 276% increase compared to 2008). From January to June, airlines collected $1.24 billion in baggage fees.
Still, this is not the only source of profit for airlines. Revenue from fees on cancelling or rebooking a flight went up 52% (to $606 million) in the second quarter of 2009, while fees for carrying pets or choosing seats brought $673 million in the second quarter, as opposed to $565 million in 2008.
When should be expect smaller fees? It’s hard to say when the industry will recover; until then, we have to get used higher fees for our airline tickets.
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