ICYMI: Hawley Accuses Airline Execs of Using Predatory Fees, Harassing Passengers to Increase Profits

ICYMI: Hawley Accuses Airline Execs of Using Predatory Fees, Harassing Passengers to Increase Profits

Wednesday, October 01, 2025

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) confronted airline executives for implementing predatory fees to increase profit margins by extracting every last penny from travelers.

Senator Hawley accused Frontier Airlines CEO, Barry Biffle, of paying his employees to harass customers over the carry-on bag policy saying, "About nine months ago, your chief commercial officer testified to me that Frontier pays its gate agents bounties to stop paying customers from carrying bags onto the plane. Is this still happening?"

Mr. Biffle replied, "Not at the rate it was . . . We do offer incentives and commissions, to stop people who didn't pay."

Senator Hawley responded, "You're still paying them money to harass customers from bringing bags onto the airline by saying it was too big or doesn't fit in a little box, or whatever the case may be, you're still doing it . . . This has gotta be the only business in the world I have heard of that pays your people to harass your own customers."

Senator Hawley turned to Allegiant Airlines CEO, Greg Anderson, to ask if his company charges families with children under the age of 13 fees to sit together saying, "Your airline apparently, is charging additional fees. I just want to know, are you still doing that?"

"You're not wrong," Mr. Anderson replied. "There are some technology issues that we're working through. We transformed our system, but we will look into this."

Senator Hawley continued to question the airline executives about how they are implementing AI to increase profit margins and the unfair practice of dynamic seat pricing.

Watch the full hearing here.

Issues