I Love Planes » Delta Airlines

Airlines Made $7.8 Billion In Fees In 2009

Rafael — Wed, 19 May 2010 23:54:51 +0000

Airlines, as a whole, collected the $7.8 billion in fees in 2009. Delta Airlines was the reported leader of the pack with $1.65 billion in fees, but that just may be a factor if its size rather than the amount or types of fees they charge.

Despite how we, the traveling public, may feel about the fees, I doubt that the fees are going to disappear any time soon. I read a report, I don’t remember where, that argued that the fees are not new revenue for the airlines. That report said that this fee revenue would have just been collected in the bundled fares, without the hit to customer service. I don’t know that I agree with that report, but I also can’t recall where I saw it to link to it.

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Photo Credit: Bunchofpants

What kind of fees are airlines charging now?

Checked bag fees
Telephone reservation fees
Change of flight fees
Pet travel
Mileage redemption fees
Premium seating fees
Carry on luggage fees (new for 2010)
On board meals and drinks
Unaccompanied minor

The above list does not include all of the fees airlines charge, they are just the ones I could think of today.

Which fee produces the largest revenue?

In the last 3 months of 2009, the biggest revenue from fees came from checked bag fees. Out of the total $1.9 billion collected in fees in that time frame, checked baggage fees accounted for $738 million of it.

Which airlines made the most money from fees?

Delta
American
US Airways
Southwest Airlines
Northwest
United
Continental
Airtran
JetBlue
Alaska

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Interestingly, Delta collected more fee revenue than the bottom 5 airlines combined. In case you’re wondering, Spirit Airlines did not crack the top 10.

Looks like these fees that originated when oil prices were in the $140+ range are here to stay.
(USA Today)

Delta Airlines upgrades passenger amenities on planes

Rafael — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:57:41 +0000

According to the Delta Airlines blog, Delta is investing a significant amount of money into upgrading and conditioning the cabins of their planes. Among the upgrades:

90 trans-oceanic aircraft will be updated with full flat-bed seats, adding the ability to stretch out and relax in our BusinessElite cabin on all Boeing 767-400ERs, 767-300ERs, 747-400s and 777-200ERs.

Those seats look like the ones from the A380.

I don’t know about you, but these changes will have no effect on whether I chose to fly Delta again or not. Personally, I hate Hartsfield airport, so if I can avoid it, the better it is for me.

Inside look at American Airlines

Rafael — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:20:14 +0000

This is a cool show produced by CNBC showing the back room operations of American Airlines. Delta Airlines has been claiming to be the world’s largest airline, but who knows how they actually measure that sort of thing.

The commercials that hulu inserts are annoying, but the content on the show is very, very good. I specially enjoyed the shots from inside the cockpit.

Let me know what you think about this show in the comments.

Mesa Air files for bankruptcy

Rafael — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:05:54 +0000

Looks like Mesa Airlines filed for Chapter 11 protection so they could get rid of planes that they’re not using and also to try to force a settlement in a law suit that they have against Delta Airlines. According to this Wall Street Journal article, it appears the airline has plenty of cash on hand, it just can’t seem to shed excess capacity fast enough.

I’m not an attorney, nor do I purport to know much about bankruptcy laws etc. but it seems like a shrewd move to file for bankruptcy to get rid of planes that you’re not using. I think it’s my naivete showing it’s head again.

In any case, it looks like no passenger flights will be affected, no employees and none of the other partnerships that the airline has will be affected by the filing. It’s strictly a move to force a settlement with Delta and to get rid of excess capacity that they have.

One thing is for sure, the attorney’s are making a lot of money off this deal.

Free Internet on Airplanes

Rafael — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:31:51 +0000

Have you seen those signs on the planes offering Wi-Fi internet access? I flew on Delta airlines recently and saw the signs all over the planes, the terminal, etc. I ended up using the internet service on the plane and loved it. Of course, I only blogged, twittered and went on to Facebook, but it was a nice way to kill some time while on the plane.

Anyway, because I’ve used it before, I got a promo code today in my email. The company requested that I share it with people so I figured I’d share it with y’all. Here’s a free promo code for you: 2286686842qtc good thru 1/7/10.

Enjoy!