Skift Take
These ancillary fee revenues will only continue rising until passengers get totally tired of them or the government steps in.
Airline bag and change fee revenue hit a record $6.4 billion in 2014 and the third quarter, propelled by summer travel, generated the highest fees, new data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics show.
Bag fee revenue was up 5.3% year-over-year to $3.5 billion in 2014 from the 27 U.S. carriers with scheduled passenger service, a record high for U.S. airlines. Delta historically collects the most bag fee revenue each year and 2014 was no exception: The airline got $875 million from these fees, and United and American followed at $651 million and $574 million, respectively.
Airlines also notched a record year for change fees, collecting $2.9 billion last year, and that was 5.7% more than in 2013. Delta, United, and Ame