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Five Airlines Pledge Not to Charge for Carry-On Bags

April 19, 2010

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who along with six other senators introduced legislation last week to keep airlines from charging for carry-on bags, said that five major airlines have agreed not to charge passengers for their carry-on bags. Schumer said that American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, United Airlines and US Airways had said that they won’t charge such fees. Schumer reached out to the airline CEOs after Spirit Airlines said it would charge up to $45 for carry-on bags put in overhead bins.

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Last week, Sens. Schumer, Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) introduced legislation that would designate carry-on baggage as a necessity for air travelers. Airlines currently pay a 7.5 cent tax to the federal government for every dollar they collect in fares, but no tax is imposed on fees collected for non-essential services. Last January, the Treasury Department issued a ruling that deemed carry-on bags as non-essential for air travel. As a result, airlines can impose fees on these bags without paying any tax to the federal government on the revenues they collect. For more information, visit www.schumer.senate.gov.

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