[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 158 (Tuesday, September 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6297-S6298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          FAA Reauthorization

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I rise today to express my frustration--my 
outrage--that this body is poised to miss a historic, once-in-a-
generation opportunity to stop the major airlines from gouging 
Americans with exorbitant fees every time they fly.
  In the dark of night early Saturday morning, House and Senate 
committee leadership released a Federal Aviation Administration 
reauthorization bill that does not include a commonsense, bipartisan 
provision to protect passengers from having to pay $200 to change a 
ticket that costs $250--a provision that would have protected a family 
from paying $200 to cancel a flight because another family member had 
fallen seriously ill and a vacation had to be canceled.
  Instead, after months of lobbying against my bipartisan FAIR Fees 
provision, the airlines won and airline passengers lost. I would 
compare it to the Christians and the lions, but in this story, the 
Christians even had to pay extra to enter the amphitheater.
  What once were considered the basic services of flying have now 
become optional and with a massive price tag--checking a bag, carrying 
on a bag, flying standby for an earlier flight, printing a boarding 
pass, early boarding, seat selection, changing or canceling your 
flight, even a blanket and pillow.
  Air travelers are being nickeled-and-dimed, but the real cost is in 
the billions of dollars. That is because the major airlines have turned 
fees into a multibillion-dollar industry. Last year, the airlines raked 
in $7.4 billion in fees. More than $4.5 billion came from now having to 
pay to check your bag, and $2.9 billion was extra fees if you wanted to 
change your ticket or if you wanted to cancel your ticket. That is 
billions of dollars. That is actually the equivalent of 11 million 
flights from Washington, DC, to Boston. That is the cost that is now 
imposed upon consumers. Passengers think they are buying low-cost 
fares, but they are really just victims of airline greed in support of 
a new multibillion-dollar profit center.
  Even in the past few weeks, as we worked in Congress to include 
important consumer protection measures in this final FAA legislation, 
the airlines continued to raise their fees.
  Last month, JetBlue Airways raised its change and cancellation fees 
from $150 to $200 for certain flights. They also raised fees for a 
passenger's first checked bag from $25 to $30 and increased the fees 
for a second checked bag from $35 to $40. That is $140 to check two 
bags for a round trip. Shortly after, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, 
and American Airlines followed suit, raising their bag fees to match 
JetBlue's.
  In college, I might have spent more time being interested in politics 
than economics, but I thought competition was supposed to drive prices 
down and not up. So why are the airlines charging these fees? Well, the 
first answer is, because they can, but the real answer is, because 
there is no competition among domestic airlines.
  In the past 10 years, we have gone from 10 major airlines down to 
just 4. Only four airlines control 85 percent of traffic in the skies. 
The only thing competitive about the current airline industry is the 
fight for overhead compartment space. Americans have more choice in 
where to eat at the airport than which airline they can take.
  We know that when choice goes down, fees go up. And these sky-high 
fees bear almost no resemblance to the cost of the services being 
provided. The Government Accountability Office, GAO, recently released 
a report confirming what countless passengers across the country 
already know to be true: Airlines are gouging captive passengers to 
line their pockets, not to cover the actual cost of the services 
provided.
  Does it really cost $200 for American Airlines to change a ticket? 
Does it really cost Delta Air Lines $40 to load that second bag--$10 
more than processing the first bag? Airlines are increasing their fees 
in order to match their competitors. They are actively seeking to 
deceive passengers by offering artificially low fares and then charging 
exorbitant fees on the back end.
  Enough is enough. It is time we put a stop to these abusive 
practices. That is why Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi 
and I joined together to get our provision ensuring change and 
cancellation fees are reasonable into the Senate FAA reauthorization 
bill.
  When a liberal from New England and a Republican from the Deep South 
can agree on policy, we are on the right side of history. Yet the 
airline industry had other plans. They stated their No. 1 priority in 
the FAA reauthorization was defeating our FAIR Fees provision.
  What is it about this provision that they would stop at nothing to 
block it from becoming law? Why would the airline industries band 
together on this one issue? They don't compete truly against each other 
in the marketplace. Here, they could all come together on one policy. 
It is because they don't want the Department of Transportation to 
assess whether change and cancellation, baggage, and other fees are 
reasonable and proportional to the costs of the services provided. They 
don't want to ensure change and cancellation fees are reasonable. That 
is all that our provision does--ensure that these fees are reasonable 
and proportional to the cost of the services being provided by the 
airlines to the customer. That is it. It is as commonsense and as 
straightforward as you would want an airline passenger to receive from 
their airline--fair and reasonable.
  No price is determined by this amendment--only that it has to be fair 
and reasonable and related to the cost that is, in fact, borne by the 
airlines in order to provide that service. How onerous could that be on 
an airline? Why can't we get that passed through this body so that 
consumers don't get tipped upside down at the counter as they try to 
change a ticket or to cancel a ticket? Why can't we get that passed?
  If a child gets sick and a passenger has to change or cancel a flight 
weeks in advance, does it really cost Delta Air Lines $200 to cancel 
that ticket? If a meeting gets postponed so a ticket has to be canceled 
2 weeks before departure, is it fair for United Airlines to charge $200 
for a ticket that costs about that same amount? Are those fees 
proportional when the airlines can still resell the vacated seat, even 
if the passenger cancels weeks ahead of time?
  Think about that. The passenger gives the airline 2 weeks' notice. 
Then, they have to pay a fine, $200. Then, the airline resells the 
ticket to another passenger. What is the cost to the airline in that 
kind of situation? Or are they just exploiting the vulnerability of the 
passenger who has to change it? They have resold the ticket for the 
same price or higher to another passenger.
  The answer is no. Passengers have no choice. They have no 
alternative.
  The market has failed, leaving these flyers vulnerable to fee gouging 
and corporate greed from the airlines. You are at the counter, and they 
can say: Go to another airline.
  And you say: Well, there are no other airlines at this airport that 
fly to my destination. It is the only airline I can rely upon.
  Well, then, pay the cancellation fee, pay the change fee because you 
are not at a marketplace where you can then say: There is another 
airline I can go to right here at this airport that will take me to 
that destination nonstop.
  In fact, the only thing the airline industry was more committed to 
doing than raising airline fees was defeating the consumer protection 
provision in the FAA bill. We still have an opportunity to right this 
wrong. Tomorrow the House of Representatives will consider the FAA 
reauthorization bill. On behalf of the flying public--the millions of 
Americans who are subjected to ridiculous airline fees--I call on the 
House to add the FAIR Fees provision to the FAA reauthorization bill, 
and I call on my Senate colleagues to support it. It is time to stop 
nickel-and-diming American families and ensure

[[Page S6298]]

that they are flying the fair and friendly skies. Otherwise, these 
billions of dollars, year after year, will come out of the pockets of 
consumers who have no choice.
  Senator Wicker and I worked together to build it into the Senate 
bill. We should not have receded to the position of the House. That was 
a mistake. This history is going to continue because the anger of the 
flying public is only going to build as each and every month and year 
goes by. The day is going to come, I vow to you, where we are going to 
have this in a bill that passes this Chamber and the House of 
Representatives.
  This is an issue whose time has come. If it has been blocked, it is 
only temporarily. We are going to return to this issue. Everyone in the 
Congress will be made accountable to the flying public so that they are 
not given this offer they can't refuse every time they are at the 
counter: Pay or don't fly. It is absolutely wrong.
  At this point, I yield back.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tillis). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Johnson). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.