"Airplane parked near passenger pathway" by Oskar Kadaksoo
Democrats on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing today pushing for massive re-regulation of the airline industry and government price controls on the fees airlines charge consumers.
The hearing is part of a larger effort on “junk fees” launched by President Joe Biden and Democrats to distract from inflation and high prices caused by Democrat overspending.
These efforts from Democrats to interfere in the marketplace are not about lowering costs or improving the experience for customers, they’re a political distraction from failed Democrat policies such as the Biden administration’s failure to address to the air traffic controller shortage driving flight delays and cancelations.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the Chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) has accused airlines of treating their costumers “like walking piggy banks” for offering customers seat upgrades at a cost customers willingly pay.
Comments such as Blumenthal’s are self-evidently ridiculous given that one of the airlines set to testify before the subcommittee has recently filed for bankruptcy. Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection in November, citing the Biden Justice Department’s blocking of its merger with JetBlue as a main cause. Here again, government intervention and overregulation of the airline industry is reducing competition and harming consumers.
In fact, getting rid of voluntary fees for bags and seats would actually cause the price of tickets to go up. Airlines are able to offer cheaper seats overall by charging customers fees for unnecessary but valued upgrades, such as a window or aisle seat preferred by customers or a seat closer to the front of the plain. The ability of airlines to differentiate the fees they charge allows a customer traveling with only a carry-on item to pay less than someone checking a bag.
Overall, unbundling products and allowing customers to pay for what they value has led to historic lows in the cost of airfare. Between 1995 and 2023, the average airfare fell from $584 to $382, a 35% decline. This makes flying more affordable than it used to be. Air fare is one of the few things that’s LESS expensive now than it was before the pandemic.
Americans for Tax Reform opposes efforts from Democrats and the Biden administration to increase government regulation of the airline industry and have the government micromanage the fees airlines charge for the services customers can voluntarily pay for.
