Spirit And Frontier Airlines Have Admitted Paying Their Gate Agents "$10 Per Bag and More" For Harassing Customers Whose Bags They Claim Are "Too Big"

Washinton Times - Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation Wednesday intended to ban airlines from making passengers pay fees for baggage, seating or other services as a condition of boarding a flight.

Mr. Hawley, Missouri Republican, said he spearheaded the End Airline Extortion Act to ban those predatory practices.

“Airline companies treat their customers like cattle. It’s offensive. They charge fliers different prices for the same flights — and sometimes different prices for bags and carry-ons. Now they’re paying their employees bounties to harass customers trying to get on the plane. It’s wrong. And frankly, it needs to be illegal,” Mr. Hawley said in a statement.

Mr. Hawley, during a hearing last week, grilled airline executives from Spirit and Frontier about the fees.

Following the hearing, he posted on X that “Spirit and Frontier paid their gate agents $26 MILLION to harass customers whose bags were ‘too big.’ Keep in mind that they’re harassing customers who’ve already paid. It’s corporate greed in action.”

The End Airline Extortion Act would ban airlines from paying bounties or other incentives to their personnel if they make passengers pay further fees for baggage, seating or other services.

This week, U.S. senators took a long-overdue swing at airline executives for turning what used to be a functional service into a dystopian cash grab. If you’ve ever flown Spirit or Frontier (aka "The Torture Twins"), you know exactly what I mean. It’s like they sat in a boardroom and said, “How can we make flying even more miserable while squeezing out a few more bucks?” And let’s be honest- they’re fuckin crushing it.

For me, I have to be forced to fly Spirit or Frontier. As in they are the only option for a direct flight to my destination, and the other choice is a multiple layover connection legged flight on a real airline. (Usually to Atlantic City and Tampa). When I do fly one of them, I know what I'm in for. I fully expect the raw butt-fucking I'm about to endure so I'm always sure to apply the vaseline to my behind thick.

"Oh, you wanted an actual ticket to show the gate agent to board your flight? That'll be $12.99" 

Shit like that is par for the course when you fly with these jokers. 

You can't really get mad. 

Go to bed with dogs, wake up with fleas as they say.

The thing that always pissed me off was when I have no other choice but to fly American Airlines. 

American is shitstain airline that masquerades as a real one. 

They belong in the same conversation as the lowest-tier companies, but somehow skate and get lumped in with the Deltas and Uniteds of the world. 

Without fail, anytime I fly American, I can bet the house on an extremely stunted women who clearly hasn't been laid in ages, screaming at me that my carry-on is too big to fit in the overheard bin. 

Mind you, I only carry-on, have a carry-on specific CARRY-ON roller suitcase from a very reputable luggage brand, famous for making luggage to travel with, with the word CARRY-ON in the fucking name. 

And without fail, these little gremlins jump all over you, demanding you prove your bag will fit by attempting to jam it in their rigged baggage size thingamajigs that were specially made by the same fucking gypsies who make the bent basketball rims for the carnival games. You know exactly what I'm talking about. 

Now for the best part. 

In a Senate hearing, their Senior VP of Shamelessness, Robert Schroeter, admitted that gate agents get a $10 bounty for every passenger forced to cough up extra for a checked bag. That’s right, folks. Frontier is running its own version of Shark Tank at the gate, where you’re the poor sucker pitching why your carry-on deserves overhead bin space.

Washington Examiner - The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing to hear from Spirit Airlines CEO Matthew Klein, Frontier Airlines Senior Vice President Robert Schroeter, Delta External Affairs Officer Peter Carter, United Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella, and American Airlines Chief Strategy Officer Steve Johnson. At the center of the senators' questioning was the matter of junk fees.

“I’m slightly amazed by the general attitude of all of you here. Flying on your airlines is horrible. It’s a terrible experience. I mean, I say this as a father of three young children, but I can’t tell you, nobody enjoys flying on your airlines," Hawley told the executives. "You charge people fees that they know nothing about. You harass them to death."

Hawley shared an anecdote about a time his wife was flying with their then 5-year-old son during the coronavirus pandemic. An American Airlines flight attendant threatened his wife with a travel ban if she didn't keep her son's mask on his face.

Meanwhile, Schroeter admitted that Frontier gate agents earn $10 per bag that they label as too big. The bonus comes because it is "a hard job" according to Schroeter.

These policies netted gate agents $26 million in two years. Meanwhile, Frontier’s CEO Barry Biffle defended this nickel-and-dime strategy by calling passengers who skirt luggage fees “shoplifters.” Yeah, Barry, because the mom of three trying to avoid a $99 carry-on charge is basically the Al Capone of Samsonite.

But don’t let Spirit Airlines off the hook either. Fresh off a failed JetBlue merger and a bankruptcy filing, Spirit managed to find time to pay out millions in bonuses to gate agents for similar bag-shaming antics. That’s a bold move for a company whose entire business model is predicated on the misery of its customers. “Spirit Airlines” should just rebrand as “The Flying DMV” and call it a day.

Spirit says it ended that practice at the end of September, reports Reuters. But Frontier—found to have paid personnel $10 for each bag a passenger was forced to check—only seems to be doubling down. "These are shoplifters, these are people that are stealing," CEO Barry Biffle told Reuters of the fliers earlier this week, ahead of airline executives responding to the report before a Senate panel. To allow them to carry on would not be "equitable to everyone who follows the rules."

"Airlines these days view their customers as little more than walking piggy banks to be shaken down for every possible dime," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said at the Wednesday hearing. Responding to a question about baggage fees, Frontier Chief Commercial Officer Robert Schroeter noted "our job is to generate the most revenue we can so we can keep profitable," per the AP. Unlike most carriers, low-fare Frontier requires fliers to pay up to $99 to use an overhead bin. Some 64% of its $3.5 billion in passenger revenue in 2023 came from ancillary charges added on to the base fare for things like luggage, seat assignments, and snacks, Quartz reports.

The insanity doesn’t stop at luggage. Airlines like Frontier have turned seat selection into an extortion racket. Want to sit next to your 5-year-old? That’ll cost you. And don’t even think about requesting extra legroom unless you’ve got a second mortgage lined up. Even snacks aren’t safe. These clowns are charging you for pretzels like they’re Michelin-star hors d'oeuvres.

What’s worse? The airlines are shockingly open about their greed. Schroeter straight-up said their job is to “generate the most revenue we can.” Translation: “We’re here to gouge you, and we don’t care if your flight experience feels like a cattle drive.”

Meanwhile, Frontier’s Biffle crowed about “unshackling” the industry under relaxed regulations, promising a renewed focus on “things that matter” like safety. Oh, really? We'll see what Boeing has to say about that Biff. 

Actual props to Senator Hawley for his proposed "End Airline Extortion Act" which aims to ban junk fees and predatory practices like charging extra for basic services or incentivizing employees to harass passengers. It’s a step in the right direction, but let’s be real: this bill is dead in the water. The airline industry lobby group has probably already deaded this thing with threats of pulling campaign funding and golf trips for 2025 across the board to every congress member who even considers voting for this. The best we have to look forward to is for the airlines to find some new, creative way to screw us over. 

The Senate might finally be calling them out, but until real change happens, we’re stuck paying first-class prices for a Greyhound bus experience with wings.

p.s.- so you know how something like 70% of tv news network advertising comes pharmaceutical companies in non election years? They don’t advertise to get us to go out and buy their product obviously. Because we can’t do that. They do that because it insulates and protects them from ever being mentioned negatively or from ever having reports or investigations done. It’s like the mob and “hush money”. Well, not to ruin a good thing we have going for us, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how the sales departments of Spirit and Barstool both haven’t inked a giant deal making Spirit the official airline of Barstool Sports by now. They are a treasure trove of blog material for us. The gift that keeps on giving. And they haven’t figured out the easiest way to shush us.

p.p.s. - I came across this tweet from this pilot explaining why having to turn our phones off in the air isn't actually a bunch of bullshit and it can cause legit problems. kind of blew my mind.