This airline CEO thinks people avoiding carry-on bags are “shoplifters”

Airline ancillary fees have been a hot topic lately in the United States government and the airline industry.

Last week, five airline executives were called for a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill. These executives included:

1. Steve Johnson, Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer, American Airlines
2. Peter Carter, Chief External Affairs Officer, Delta Air Lines
3. Andrew Nocella, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, United Airlines
4. Robert Schroeter, Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer, Frontier Airlines
5. Matthew Klein, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Spirit Airlines

This hearing dug into ancillary fees and ‘discriminatory pricing’. This happened around the same time that Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle called passengers who try to avoid carry-on fees shoplifters.

The United States (US) Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations recently released a report outlining that Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines paid their staff incentives for enforcing bag fees.

According to the report, the two airlines spent $26 million in 2022 and 2023 to hunt passengers attempting to avoid carry-on fees.

“One Frontier official told the Subcommittee that bag policy enforcement was necessary because the airline does not want customers to be taking more or “stealing” from the airline.”

The report adds that both airlines’ revenue increased, and Frontier estimated it would receive more than $40 million in fees during the first year of the enforcement program.

Frontier staff can earn up to $10 for every bag a passenger is forced to check at the gate, while Spirit pays up to $5.

In an interview with Reuters, Frontier CEO Barry Biffle defended the airline’s incentive program. Biffle said,

“These are shoplifters. These are people that are stealing. It’s not equitable to everyone who follows the rules.”

Biffle added that the aviation industry will benefit from an administration change next month and that President Donald Trump focuses on things that matter, like safety, and stop worrying about regulating prices and regulating experiences.

In response to the recently released report, Senator Josh Hawley introduced the End Airline Extortion Act, which would ban airlines from providing incentives. Crawley said that airlines treat their passengers like cattle.

Frontier was the first of the two ultra-low-cost carriers to launch an incentive program and spent a lot more than Spirit. According to the Senate committee report, in 2022, Frontier paid more than $6.3 million.

The following year, payouts nearly doubled and surpassed $12.5 million. Seven types of employees participated in the incentive program:

1. Customer service agents
2. Contracted managers
3. Contracted supervisors
4. Regional supervisors
5. Regional managers
6. General managers
7. Customer service managers

Managers and supervisors were also paid out bonuses if an “airport or region under their charge” reached a certain number of carry-on bag fees at the gates. The report added,

“News reports documenting consumer frustration with Frontier’s incentive policies have included instances of customers claiming that gate agents concluded that personal items did not fid within containers meant to measure the size of a personal item allowed by Frontier’s policy, even though the items visibly did fit.”

The committee asked Frontier’s Vice President if Frontier’s commissions were structured so that both the airline and its agents earned more revenue if they determined that a bag was not in compliance with the airline’s policies.

His response was that the airline does not want passengers to be “stealing” from the airline, using the same type of language as Biffle, the airline’s CEO.

The vice president was further asked about charging a passenger whose bag fit in the sizers, and he could not provide a clear answer but rather highlighted that bags could contain lithium batteries.

When asked if a significant increase in passenger complaints related to particular ancillary products would influence Frontier’s ancillary revenue strategy, the vice president said he could not speak on the level of complaints. He reiterated that some passengers get away with taking more than what they paid for, and the airline wants to stop that.

Spirit launched its inventive program eight months after Frontier. In the first two months, Spirit paid out nearly $800,000 to its staff. In 2023, nearly $7 million was paid out to its staff.

From July 2022 to December 2023, a separate incentive was given to employees at its contact center. Spirit paid out under the following criteria:

• carry-on bag fees for passengers who bring a personal item larger than the size permitted by Spirit’s baggage policies
• checked bags that exceed the weight limit set by Spirit’s policies
• exit row seats
• selling a Big Front Seat to a customer

Selling exit row seats is a $2 payout, charging for overweight bags results in a $4 payout, and selling Big Front Seats/charging a carryon bag fee is a $5 payout.

There is no limit on how much a Spirit agent can collect in a month, but employees are not eligible for payouts if “guest experience ratings” decline.

“Spirit’s Chief Commercial Officer said that the incentive policy was implemented to ensure passengers were “treated fairly and equally.” According to the Chief Commercial Officer, the goal of the program was “efficiency,” and while the airline’s tracking and analysis of the incentive program showed that the incentive programs did increase the amount of ancillary revenue the airline collected, the airline’s intent was to be fair to customers who had paid for a carry-on bag or other ancillary product.”