NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A month after pushing airlines to reduce fuel surcharges as oil prices dropped, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez used the heaviest travel day of the year to propose requiring them to disclose and explain other fees they charge passengers.
As planes took off behind him at Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday, Menendez, D-N.J., noted that fees and surcharges frequently aren't represented in the initial price listed online, nor are they broken down and explained. He said he's drafted legislation to require airlines to make them clear upfront.
To illustrate his point, he held up a printout of an online search he had done recently. It produced a flight from Newark to Detroit for $291, which wound up costing $334 when extra fees were added, not including any fees for baggage.
``We're living in hard economic times, and Americans are mindful of every penny they spend,'' Menendez said. ``Fees should be plain to see and easy to figure out, and fuel surcharges should actually correlate to fuel costs instead of being an excuse to raise prices.''
Last month, Menendez called on airlines to reduce ticket surcharges that were instituted in response to record oil prices that eventually dropped 45 percent from July to October.
On Wednesday he said many airlines have folded the surcharges into their ticket pricing, but criticized them for continuing to charge baggage fees that were initiated partly as a response to high fuel costs.
``If fuel is down 50 percent and you're still charging the same for baggage fees, that would be changed'' under his legislation, he said.
Menendez said his legislation would require airlines to demonstrate that fuel surcharges are directly related to the fuel costs for a particular route. He said he was able to search online and find flights on the same carrier between the same two cities that levied different fuel surcharges.
The Air Transport Association, which represents the airline industry, said in a letter to Menendez last month that the airlines expect to lose $6 billion to $8 billion in 2008 due to fuel costs and reduced travel due to the weak economy. It estimated airlines will spend between $10 billion and $20 billion more on fuel in 2008 than in 2007.
In an e-mail Wednesday, ATA spokesman David Castelveter said airlines already disclose fees and surcharges before ticket purchases.
``We are and should remain a deregulated industry,'' Castelveter wrote. ``Let competition determine the price of a ticket.''
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