During the first quarter of 2017, baggage fees totaled $1.03 billion, according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
This is the fourth consecutive quarter that fees exceeded $1 billion.
The American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) believes this figure should be enough to propel airlines to drop their opposition to the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) designed to modernize facilities.
“A billion dollars in three months?” AAAE President and CEO Todd Hauptli said. “More than $4 billion a year – good work if you can get it, but what the airlines clearly don’t get is that airports need to modernize their facilities and the PFC is the best way of doing that. PFC revenues build facilities that enhance the passenger experience at airports. Where are these billions and billions of bag fee dollars going?”
While the PFC is a charge that must be imposed and used locally, it is not a federally imposed tax. Since 2015, $3 billion has been collected from the PFC.
During the quarter, $723 million was collected in reservation change or cancellation fees.
Approximately, $53.7 billion has been collected in baggage fees and cancellation fees since 2008.
Last year, $2.9 billion was collected in ticket fees and a record $4.2 billion on baggage fees.