Congress: No More Carry-On Fees!
Public outrage over increased fees by airlines has reached a boiling point, and now members of congress are taking a stand.
Do you remember the recent carry-on baggage fees that Spirit Airlines introduced in effort to force customers to pay for use of the overhead storage bins? If the heightened fees for checked luggage hadn’t angered congress members and their entourages, Spirit Airlines apparently pushed the right button and forced the airline industry into the blinding spotlight of Capitol Hill.
On Wednesday, New York democratic Senator Charles Schumer introduced a new bill that will amend the tax code that has made it possible for airlines to forego specific fees, such as overhead storage fees.
“This latest fee crosses the line and is a slap in the face to travelers,” Schumer stated. “Our legislation will rein in the airlines and keep air travelers from being gouged every time they board a plane.”
The fee that Spirit Airlines proposed will force passengers to cough up $45 to use the overhead bins, making the airline the first to charge for carry-on luggage. The company’s reasoning for the new fee is stated by spokesman as being a strategic move to increase the speed and ease of boarding a flight. Officials also said the company is planning to decrease checked luggage fees and other fares in an attempt to offset the new cost of the new fee for passengers.
The company’s chief executive, Ben Baldanza, fought off the public and congressional outrage by giving a free market spin to the situation.
“This is a free market and consumers are free to make their own choices,” Baldanza said. “Spirit is all about giving customers options to choose what they want to pay for without subsidizing the choices of others.”
Congressional members argue that the airlines are taking advantage of a loophole that provides them with the ability to forego taxation on services that are not considered “reasonably necessary.”
“It seems that air carriers are crossing a line that will end in pricing middle class families right out of being able to fly, and that’s not right,” said New Jersey democratic Senator Robert Menendez. “While airlines have a right to set prices, families should have the right to bring a change of clothes with them and not be gouged for it.”
The proposed bill is known as the Block Airlines’ Gratuitous Fees Act, or BAG Fees Act. The bill would deem carry-on luggage as being “essential” and taxable under the same rate as fares.