US airlines collect nearly $1 billion in baggage fees

WASHINGTON (KGO) -- Airlines are cashing in big time on baggage fees. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, airlines collected $960 million in baggage fees last quarter.

That nearly $1 billion figure is up about 9 percent from the same period last year.

We did the math and found that breaks down to about $37 million for each of the 27 airlines nationwide.

That number, however, pales in comparison to ticket fares. Actual ticket fares brought in $34 billion for the same 27 companies in the quarter.

By comparison, the costs of fuel and labor over that period were $11 billion and $10 billion respectively.