Spirit’s Robert Schroeter and Frontier’s Matthew Klein
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) tore into executives from Spirit and Frontier Airlines, accusing them of exploiting paying customers with predatory and inconsistent baggage fees during a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing.
The subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), examined how airlines have increasingly relied on ancillary fees to pad their profits while service quality has declined.
The PSI Majority Report revealed that major airlines, including Spirit and Frontier, have aggressively monetized customer inconveniences, particularly through inconsistent carry-on baggage fees and incentivized gate agent enforcement.
Hawley’s sharp questioning left Spirit’s Robert Schroeter and Frontier’s Matthew Klein. fumbling to explain their policies, which, according to him, make air travel a nightmare for everyday Americans.
The hearing revealed that airlines like those represented by Robert Schroeder and Matthew Klein paid employees $10 per bag flagged as a carry-on violation.
Klein admitted his airline suspended the program in September but acknowledged paying agents millions over the past two years. Schroeder defended the practice as an “incentive,” but Hawley shot back, calling it what it is: “a bounty.”
Sen. Hawley lambasted the airlines for reportedly spending $26 million between 2022 and 2023 to incentivize gate agents to target passengers whose bags exceeded size limits by mere centimeters.
Josh Hawley: How much have you paid people to pull out customers who are in line with a bag that’s 2 centimeters too big, Mr. Schroeder?
Robert Schroeter: Well, we recognize this as a hard job, and so therefore, we incentivize them to do that.
Josh Hawley: How much?
Robert Schroeter: It’s $10 per bag.
Josh Hawley: Wow, $10 per bag. I think, Mr. Klein, you and Mr. Schroeder, your airlines cumulatively have spent $26 million paying gate agents between 2022 and 2023 to catch passengers whose bags are a little bit too big. Twenty-six million dollars!
I mean, if people want to know why it’s such a terrible experience to fly, this is news for them today. Your airlines are paying millions of dollars to your employees to harass people who’ve already paid. They’re there in line because they’ve already paid. It’s unbelievable.
Hawley also slammed the airlines for their dynamic pricing schemes, which charge passengers wildly different fees for the same carry-on bag or seat. Schroeder tried to deflect by blaming “routes and demand,” but Hawley wasn’t buying it.
“People on the same flight are paying astronomically different prices,” Hawley pointed out. “How do you determine it? Is it based on personal characteristics? Do you charge women more? Minors? Just people who are suckers? How do you do it?”
Josh Hawley:
Why do you charge some people more? Why is someone on the same flight charged triple or quadruple the amount?
Matthew Klein:
The length of the flight matters.
Josh Hawley:
But that’s not the data. People on the same flight might get charged radically different prices for one carry-on bag. Why?
Matthew Klein:
The $99 charge has been reduced to $79. What happens is we try to get the best price to the right people at the right time.
Josh Hawley:
The best people? Who are they?
Matthew Klein:
Sorry, let me rephrase. The right price at the right time.
Josh Hawley:
Right. But if you’re unlucky and book your flight late, you get screwed. That’s what you’re saying.
Hawley shared his personal experience as a father of three young children, recounting an incident during COVID when a flight attendant threatened to ban his wife from flying because their five-year-old’s mask slipped below his nose.
Josh Hawley:
I’m amazed by the general attitude of all of you here. Flying on your airlines is horrible. It’s a terrible experience. I say this as a father of three young children: nobody enjoys flying on your airlines. It’s a disaster. You charge people fees they know nothing about.
You harass them to death. I’ll never forget during COVID when an attendant on your airline threatened my wife because our then-five-year-old son’s mask slipped below his nose.
This flight attendant told my wife that if she didn’t keep that mask over his nose at all points on this four-hour flight, she would personally see that my wife was banned from flying.
This happens over and over to families. It’s terrible. Absolutely terrible. Your attitude today seems to be, “Devil may care.” There’s nothing we can do about it. Well, I think we are going to do something about it.
WATCH:
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