$36 Billion In A La Carte Fees Collected By Airlines This Year

21:39 Steampunk 0 Comments

While you knew airlines were getting worse and worse with charging a la carte fees, did you know they are projected to earn $36 billion this year alone?

Last week, Amadeus Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenues revealed the total as an 11.3% increase from the $32.5 billion the industry collected in 2011.

“It’s encouraging to see ancillary revenue growing at over 11 percent this year which demonstrates the significant commercial potential for airlines,” Holger Taubmann, senior vice president, distribution for Amadeus, said in a statement.

While that’s one way of looking at it, it’s safe to say travelers probably won’t share the same positive view.

“When the airlines were losing money, some travelers may have felt sorry for them,” George Hobica of AirfareWatchdog.com told NBC News. “Now that the airlines are making profits, there’s going to be less sympathy.”

Airlines with the biggest gains included fee-dependent airlines like Spirit, AirAsia and easyJet. These carriers are projected to earn $5.6 billion in extra revenue for 2012, a 30.5% increase from 2011. Moreover, low cost airlines like JetBlue, Southwest and GOL will earn $5.4 billion, up 12.8% from last year. In terms of major U.S. carriers, only six airlines – Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, United and US Airways – will earn $12.4 billion this year. This figure is a 0.8% drop from 2011, although still represents 35% of the global total.

While these a la carte fees represent out-of-pocket expenses, they also include money made by airlines from “selling miles” to credit card companies and other corporate partners.

So, are there more fees in the future of airline passengers? Most likely.

“The next surge of activity will occur when the sale of optional extras becomes more prevalent in the automated booking systems used by travel agents,” said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks, which produced the report. “Look for airlines to become better retailers through all distribution channels during the next three years.”

What are your thoughts on these findings?

[Source: NBC News]