BAGGAGE FEES A LUCRATIVE REVENUE STREAM FOR US CARRIERS

Official figures from the US Departmenmt of Transport’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics show US airlines have earned $2.5 billion so far in 2010 on baggage fees alone. This is a 22.5% raise over the same period last year. And fees will continue to climb as long as the market will bear it, said Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group International, an aviation consulting firm. Delta Air Lines was the highest earner pocketing $733 million so far this year, up from $481 million in 2009. Cancellation and change fees earnings were also up by almost doublw since 2007. The charges for