Skift

Airlines

U.S. Airline Profits Surge to Record Levels As Fees Increase

  • Skift Take
    Now that airlines are reporting major profit, it’s time for them to reward flyers with a better onboard experience and more route options.

    U.S. airlines reported after-tax profit of $25.6 billion in 2015, a gigantic increase from the $7.5 billion profit reported in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

    This marks the sixth consecutive year that the 25 major passenger airlines in the U.S. posted a profit after tax. They also nearly doubled their pre-tax operating profit from $14.6 billion in 2014 to $28 billion in 2015.

    New information also shows that revenue earned by airlines from bag fees has reached a record high of $3.8 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 2014.

    Airlines also earned $3 billion from change fees in 2015, a slight increase from 2014.

    American Airlines and US Airways earned the most in 2015 from both bag fees and change fees.

    Here’s a breakdown of which airlines earned the most off bag fees in 2015.

    Airline 2015 Total (in ,000s)
    AA/US Combined 1,125,846
    American 876,800
    US Airways 249,046
    Delta 875,102
    United 672,222
    Spirit 288,711
    Frontier 220,044
    Allegiant 161,364
    JetBlue 142,710
    Alaska 112,815
    Hawaiian 81,161
    Virgin America 59,959
    Southwest 43,636
    Sun Country 17,413
    Island Air Hawaii 2,759
    All 3,803,742
    Photo Credit: A US Airways aircraft at the gate in Phoenix. Ed Suominen / Flickr
    Subscribe Now

    Already a member?

    Already a member?

    Subscribe to Skift Pro to get unlimited access to stories like these

    Subscribe Now

    Already a member?

    Exit mobile version