See the inspiring stories Come meet us Time to legalize weed?
OPINION

Fuel prices fall, but not airline fees: Our view

The Editorial Board
USATODAY
Fueling a jet.

Consumers didn't like it when companies started tacking on fuel surcharges after the price of oil shot up to $145 a barrel in 2008. But at least those charges made some sense: Airlines, delivery services, taxi companies and others that use a lot of fuel were getting clobbered. And the charges were portrayed as temporary. When the price of oil fell, the surcharges would come off, right?

How naive. Even though fuel prices have dropped dramatically, many of those surcharges are sticking around. Companies such as FedEx and UPS routinely add about 3% to 8% in fuel charges for ground or air delivery. And in the midst of the biggest oil price drop since early 2009, FedEx just raised its ground surcharge from 5.5% to 6%.

At least the big package delivery companies prominently post their fuel fees online, adjust them regularly and say they charge separately for fuel because it's such a volatile commodity.

Airlines are another matter.

You have to go to a special website to see that domestic carriers are still adding hundreds of dollars in fuel surcharges to the cost of international flights. For example, the surcharge — now recast as a "carrier-imposed surcharge" — for a round-trip flight on United between New York City and London is a whopping $516. That's more than 40% of the total ticket cost of $1,192.

What's going on is a demonstration of what most consumers already know: Once a fee goes on, it hardly ever comes off. When the surcharges first popped up, airlines defended them by pointing out that fuel is their single biggest cost — about 30% of what it takes to keep planes in the sky. Now that fuel prices are down, airlines defend the surcharges by insisting that other costs have gone up. Do the surcharges cover fuel, peanuts, airsickness bags, the price of a new Boeing?

Who knows?

One more thing. Baggage fees were also justified as a way to offset the rising cost of jet fuel. Does anyone think those fees are going away now that jet fuel has fallen a breathtaking 50% since the beginning of 2014?

Here's a revealing comment that an Alaska Airlines senior vice president made to a group of analysts last month. "While (the cost of jet fuel) has been a nice tailwind in the fourth quarter," the executive said, "several of you have asked us if we are pricing to account for the lower fuel prices. … The answer is no."

The airline industry, of course, has navigated rough times. As a deregulated, for-profit business, it's free to charge whatever passengers will pay. That's how capitalism works. The call by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., for a federal investigation into why airlines aren't lowering their fares as fuel costs go down seems silly.

But that doesn't mean fliers have to like being nickel-and-dimed, or to shut up.

Airlines for America, the trade group that represents major passenger and cargo airlines, says the drop in oil prices is too recent to justify removing surcharges or cutting ticket prices, but if the price of a barrel of oil stays $40 to $50 for 12 months, that might be enough.

Really? A year?

The law of gravity — what goes up, must come down — applies to jetliners. It just doesn't seem to cover airline surcharges.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

To read more editorials, go to the Opinion front page or sign up for the daily Opinion e-mail newsletter.

Want more? Debate with Jean Medina of Airlines for America. Click below to listen, or download to take it with you:

Featured Weekly Ad