Baggage, Reservation Change Fees Tracked By U.S. DOT

U.S. airlines collected $1.38 billion from baggage fees and reservation change fees in the first quarter of 2011, according to the airline financial data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

The airlines received $784 million from baggage fees and $598 million from reservation change fees in the first quarter. These are the only fees paid by passengers that BTS can identify separately. All other fees paid by passengers are included in larger categories with other types of revenue. In July, the Department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require airlines to report 16 additional categories of fee revenue in addition to the baggage and reservation change fees to provide additional airline pricing information to consumers and airline analysts.

The release of the first-quarter financial data was scheduled for June 20 but delayed because of technical processing issues. BTS has not yet scheduled the release of second-quarter 2011 financial data.

FMI: www.bts.gov