Airlines charge $566M in baggage fees

WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- Baggage fees charged by U.S. airlines reaped $566.3 million for the carriers in the first quarter of 2009, transportation department officials said.

Statistics released Monday by the U.S. Department of Transportation showed the fee collections were up 362 percent from the year-earlier quarter, the last period before airlines were allowed to charge for the first and second bags checked by passengers, The Tulsa (Okla.) World reported.

Airlines collected $498.6 million in baggage fees in the last quarter of 2008, the department said.

The newspaper reported that American Airlines collected $108.1 million in baggage fees in the first quarter, the most of any U.S. carrier, followed by Delta Air Lines at $102.8 million; US Airways at $94.2 million; Northwest Airlines at $59.8 million; and United Airlines at $59.1 million.