Hawaiian Airlines is likely to exceed
$100 million for a second consecutive year in baggage, reservation and change fees.
Through the first nine months of 2017, Hawaiian had $61.1 million in baggage fees and $16.8 million in change fees for a total of $77.9 million, according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
For all of 2016 the state’s largest carrier had $82.4 million in baggage fees and $21.6 million in change fees for a total of $104 million.
The DOT is scheduled to release full-year 2017 figures for all U.S. carriers in May.
“Fees help pay for the costs associated with handling and transporting bags, or canceling/changing a ticket,” Hawaiian spokeswoman Ann Botticelli said earlier this year.
Hawaiian ended the third quarter with $21.5 million in baggage fees and $5.6 million in change fees for a combined total of $27.1 million. Those numbers were close to its July-September figures in 2016 when its baggage and change fees were $22.3 million and $5.7 million, respectively.
Hawaiian is in line with most airlines in charging
$25 for a first checked bag and $35 for a second. On interisland flights HawaiianMiles members pay $15 and $20, respectively, for first and second checked bags. Hawaiian also offers special programs in which one or more bags can be checked for free.
Like most airlines, Hawaiian doesn’t charge for the first two checked bags on international flights.
American Airlines became the first major carrier to charge for a first checked bag when it assessed passengers $15 in May 2008 to help offset soaring fuel costs. Since then airlines have been counting on those fees as they continually look for different ways, such as lie-flat seating and extra-room seats, to generate additional revenue.
Island Air, the state’s second-largest carrier before it ceased operations Nov. 10, saw its baggage-fee revenue jump nearly
59 percent in the third quarter to $1.7 million from
$1.1 million in the year-earlier period after adding more interisland routes systemwide during the year. The airline’s reservation cancellation and change fees dropped slightly to $143,000 from $148,000.
Through nine months
Island Air’s baggage and change fee revenue were
$5 million and $460,000, respectively.
Island Air never disclosed how much it lost in the third quarter during its bankruptcy proceedings, but data it filed with the DOT showed that the airline lost $5.5 million in the July-September period to mark its 18th losing quarter in a row. Revenue rose nearly 24 percent in the quarter to $13.1 million, the airline’s highest quarterly revenue since at least before 2007. But operating expenses increased about
39 percent to $17.5 million due to the acquisition of new aircraft, increased training and the modernization of its information technology system.
Overall, the 13 reporting U.S. airlines brought in $1.22 billion in baggage revenue during the third quarter, up 10.4 percent from $1.10 billion in the year-earlier period. American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, led the way with $299.4 million in baggage revenue.
The same airlines, excluding Southwest, reported $720.2 million in reservation cancellation and change fees during the quarter, down 1.4 percent from $730.8 million in the year-ago period. American collected the most in change fees at $221 million.
Southwest doesn’t charge for flight changes or cancellations, while its baggage fees include only luggage that is overweight, oversize or if there are three or more checked bags.
