Business

Airlines Bring In More Money from Bag, Reservations Fees

Published

11 years ago

May 5, 2015

In this Dec. 1, 2013 file photo, travelers walk through terminal 3 baggage claim at O’Hare International airport in Chicago. The Department of Transportation on Monday, May 4, 2015 said that airline net income fell to $7.5 billion in 2014 from $12.2 billion in 2013. Airlines collected $3.5 billion in bag fees, a 5 percent increase over 2013. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer

U.S. airlines are earning billions, and they are collecting more in fees on checked bags and reservation changes.

Whether airlines are making more or less profit than before depends on which figures you use, although the parent company of American and US Airways comes out on top either way.

The Department of Transportation said Monday that airlines collected $3.5 billion in bag fees last year, a 5 percent increase over 2013, and $3 billion in reservation-change fees, a 6 percent hike.

Fees began escalating in 2008, when airlines were losing money and facing a sharp rise in fuel prices. Today, they make up a growing share of airline revenue.

At Spirit Airlines, which touts low fares and adds lots of fees, only 63 percent of its revenue comes from fares. Southwest still lets customers check two bags or change a reservation for free; it gets 95 percent of revenue from the ticket price.

Charlie Leocha of the Consumer Travel Alliance said airlines should reduce fees, but he doesn’t expect that to happen because the fees bring in too much money. He favors a proposed federal rule that would require airlines to improve disclosure of how much fees will increase a traveler’s total bill.

Jean Medina, a spokeswoman for the industry trade group Airlines for America, said that fees let airlines charge customers for things they value while keeping base fares low. She said airlines are using “modest” profits and savings from lower fuel prices to invest in new planes and facilities and to reward employees and shareholders.

Net income at the 27 airlines counted by the government fell to $7.5 billion last year from $12.2 billion in 2013. However, net income can include one-time gains or losses, and analysts usually prefer to look at operating profit.

On that basis, the airlines did even better in 2014 than 2013 — pretax operating profit rose to $14.6 billion from $11.3 billion.

One carrier, Delta Air Lines, accounted for more than the entire industry’s decline in net income because it scored a one-time tax gain of $8 billion in 2013. That caused net income to plunge from $10.54 billion to $649 million in 2014.

But take away the 2013 tax gain and 2014 losses on fuel-hedging contracts, and Delta saw a more modest decline in pretax operating profit — $2.93 billion last year, compared with $3.84 billion in 2013.

Other than Delta, both net income and operating profit rose at all the other leading airlines — American, US Airways, which is now part of American, United and Southwest — according to government figures. Those carriers control more than 80 percent of the U.S. air-travel market.

American Air Group Inc. had the highest revenue, net income and operating profit.

___

David Koenig can be reached at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

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5 days ago

March 1, 2026

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.