The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on Wednesday with executives from United, Delta, American Spirit, and Frontier Airlines over their increasing fees on bags and other services. The senators on the panel tore into the executives, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) excoriating their businesses as a “disaster” and just “absolutely terrible.”
Hawley questioned the executives for some ten minutes and at one point said, “I mean, you guys do appreciate that flying on your airlines is– it is a disaster, don’t you? I’m slightly amazed by the general attitude of all of you here. Flying on your airlines is horrible. It’s a terrible experience.”
“I mean, I say this as a father of three young children, but I can’t tell you nobody enjoys flying on your airlines. It’s it’s a disaster,” continued the populist Republican, adding:
You charge people fees that they know nothing about. You harass them to death. I’ll never forget, Mr. Johnson, during Covid, when an attendant on your airline threatened my wife because our then five-year-old son, his mask had slipped. This is back when we all had to wear those ridiculous masks.His mask could slip below his nose. This flight attendant came up to my wife and said if she didn’t keep that mask over his nose at all points on this four hour flight, she would personally see that my wife
was banned from flying. This has happened over and over to families. It’s terrible. It’s absolutely terrible.
During another part of his questioning, Hawley tussled with Spirit Airline executive Matthew Klein over varied baggage fees.
“Wow. $10 per bag. And I think, Mr. Klein, you and Mr. Schroeder, your airlines cumulatively have spent $26 million paying gate agents between 2022 and 2023 to catch passengers whose bags are a little bit too big, $26 million,” Hawley fumed, adding:
I mean, if people want to know why it’s such a terrible experience to fly, this is news for them today. Your airlines are paying millions of dollars to your employees to harass people who’ve already paid. They’re in line because they’ve already paid.It’s unbelievable. By the way, let me just ask you this while I have you here. Why is it that you charge different people, different fees for carry-on bags? Why is that, Mr. Klein? Why is it why isn’t it just a flat fee? Why is it that I might get charge one fee, but my wife might get charged a different fee? Why is that?
Klein replied, “So overall, our job is to generate the most revenue we can so we can be profitable as an airline. If we’re not.”
As Hawley tried to speak over him, Klein added, “If we’re not profitable– Well, actually, we
“I got it. I got it. I got it. And money is the answer. So your last year and last year, your carry-on bag fees ranged between $15 and $99. That. That’s extraordinary. One person might pay 15. Somebody else might pay 99. How do you determine it? Is it based on personal characteristics?” Hawley followed up.
“It’s never based on personal characteristics,” Klein replied.
“So just for people who are suckers,” Hawley shot back.
Watch the clip above.