Spirit Airlines: Don't tax airline fees

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- Luggage is "not essential" to travel, so paying $45 to place carry-ons overhead helps bag-free people fly, the head of U.S. carrier Spirit Airlines Inc. said.

"We are certain that Spirit's decision to unbundle services not essential to the transportation of passengers has enabled more passengers to fly at lower cost," Chief Executive Officer Ben Baldanza told the U.S. House Transportation Committee Wednesday. "Indeed, given our low fares, it has allowed many to travel who otherwise simply could not afford to do so."

House Democrats -- critical of airlines for increasingly charging for checked baggage, seat selection and other services -- indicated they were considering legislation to tax the revenue collected from the fees.

"Passengers are paying for meals, for pillows, for blankets, for headphones, for beverages, to check the luggage," House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., said, calling the fees a "backdoor price increase" in airfares.

Baldanza said Spirit simply sought "to provide maximum choice to passengers to purchase the specific services they want, while keeping fares as low as possible" -- an a la carte fee model he said was "unique among U.S. airlines," ABC News reported.

He argued that taxing fee revenue would not only be unfair to consumers but also hurt the airline industry.

"Such taxes would surely harm competition, raise costs and slow the industry's recovery from a decade of losses," The Wall Street Journal quoted him as saying.

Baldanza added ancillary fees, such as $2 for a soft drink, should not be taxed because they "do not use the infrastructure that the tax is intended to pay for."

David Ridley, Southwest Airlines Co. senior vice president of marketing and revenue management, criticized Spirit's model but said he believed airlines should be free to us the model if they want to.