Skift Take
Maybe the airlines industry should rename itself as the ancillaries industry, since all growth is there AND customer service is now ancillary to everything else anyway.
U.S. airlines made a windfall in baggage and reservation change fee in second quarter of 2012, according to latest financial data compiled by U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
All U.S. passenger airlines collected a total of $931 million in baggage fees and $661 million from reservation change fees from April through June 2012, with Delta being the highest, followed by United, American, US Airways and Southwest, in that order.
And this is not even all of the fees: Baggage and reservation change fees are the only ancillary fees paid by passengers that are reported to BTS as separate items. Other fees, such as revenue from seating assignments and on-board sales of food, beverages, pillows, blankets, and entertainment are combined in different categories and cannot be identified separately.
The largest 9 airlines, which carry about 80% of all U.S. traffic, posted a profit of $2.3 billion, a 6 percent profit margin, with all of the large carriers reporting an operating profit.
Full numbers in the release below:
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