Delta is the second-most profitable U.S. airline, but it is the king of bag fees


Skift Take

Fees for bags, reservation changes, and seat upgrades have finally made U.S. airlines profitable, but the traveling pubic still isn't sold on the a la carte fee system.
It's no coincidence that Delta Air Lines had the second-highest operating-profit margin among U.S. airlines in the third quarter and also took in the most checked bag-fee revenue: $233.1 million. Delta's third quarter profit margin of 14.6% (or $1.46 billion in Q3 operating profit) was only eclipsed by the much-smaller Alaska Airlines at 18.7% ($237 million), according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Interestingly, Alaska's third quarter revenue from bag fees was more than $44 million, well up in the BTS ranking in sixth place behind Delta, United, American, US Airways, and Southwest out of 16 airlines covered. Delta generally charges $25, $35 and $125 for the first, second and third checked bags each way, while Alaska charges $20 each. Here's the BTS' bag-fee tallies through the first three quarters of 2012: Baggage Fees by Airline 2012 (numbers in 000) Rank Airline 1Q 2Q 3Q 2012 so far 1 Delta 198,352 231,351 233,123 662,826 2 United 156,761 194,