Airline Fee Revenue Expected to Reach Nearly $60 Billion in 2015
Skift Take
Airlines needed to find some way to make money. It seems they’ve finally found it. If passengers stop buying based on published fares and start buying based on the products offered, the airlines’ new dependency on ancillary sales could drive improvements to the passenger experience.
IdeaWorks and CarTrawler have released their latest report on airline ancillary revenue, projected to reach $59.2 billion in 2015.
This figure represents an increase in ancillary revenue gains of 18.8% from 2014 and 163% from 2010.
U.S. airlines are top performers in ancillary revenue among their peers worldwide.
$18.1 billion (30.6% of the global total) is generated by just six carriers: Alaska Airlines, American, Delta, Hawaiian, Southwest, and United.
“These carriers rely upon their frequent flier programs to generate a significant share of ancillary revenue. For example, more than 62% of Delta’s ancillary revenue is produced by its SkyMiles
