The U.S. Senate hearing on airline fees, a Boeing employee surveillance program, the judge rejects the 737 MAX plea deal, Airbus floats a cockpit idea for Extended Minimum Crew Operations (eMCO), and a study will look at how high-G flying might affect Naval fighter pilots. Also, ticket sales for EAA Air Venture Oshkosh 2024 and FlightSimExpo, Brian’s 2024 travels, fly-by-wire airplanes and smuggling Cessnas into Russia.

Airline executives testify at a Senate Subcommittee. (Screen capture courtesy PBS NewsHour.)

Aviation News

US senators grill airline officials about fees for seats and checked bags

The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on December 4, 2024 about airline fees charged for baggage, seat selection, and other services. Executives representing American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, and Spirit Airlines testified. Testimony included:

Airline fees - Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Blumenthal consistently referred to these as “junk fees.” In opening remarks, airlines characterized fees as allowing the consumer to create and pay for the experience they want - unbundling.

“Bag bounty” programs - Sen. Hawley was quite antagonistic. Frontier removed their program September 30 that paid gate attendants for checking carry-on bags.

Pricing - The Senators wanted to know why personal information is collected before the ticket price is given and the use of dynamic pricing based on the personal data. They also (unsuccessfully) probed the airline executives for the cost of the services covered by fees, assuming that price is related to cost.

Family seating - Sen Hassan and others argued for fee-free family seating and sometimes confused a fee and the ability to accommodate.  See the DOT Airline Family Seating Dashboard.

DOT Airline Family Seating Dashboard

Loyalty programs - Sen Marshall characterized credit card programs as being about “voodoo miles” and the revenue to the airlines as a “kickback.”

Competition - Spirit Airlines Matthew Kline was very critical of legacy airlines saying Spirit is at a competitive disadvantage over slots. Also that the majors paid pilots to retire during Covid, then poached Spirit pilots when demand returned.

Overall, there was bipartisan demand that the airlines change junk fee practices, and two people should not be charged different prices for the same service on the same flight. It was evident that AI was on the minds of all, with airlines starting to think about applications and Senators afraid of what the technology could do.

Speaking for their respective airlines were 

Steve Johnson, vice chair and chief strategy officer, American Airlines; 

Peter Carter, chief external affairs officer, Delta Air Lines; 

Andrew Nocella, EVP and chief commercial officer, United Airlines; 

Robert Schroeter, SVP, chief commercial officer, Frontier Airlines; 

and Matthew Klein, EVP and chief commercial officer, Spirit Airlines

See also Airline executives blasted at Senate hearing over carrier fees

Video: Airline executives testify on junk fees before Senate committee

https://www.youtube.com/live/jYNbu7E8gj8?si=VygQRsTGV7J-BvLD

Boeing cancels its workplace surveillance program, will remove sensors

Boeing had started to install sensors “in ceiling tiles above workstations, conference rooms, and common areas.” The sensors included motion detectors, cameras, and light, heat, and noise detectors. Boeing the data on building use for “managing energy and space usage.” According to Boeing, the cameras could take only blurry photos and AI would analyze the occupancy of the space. Only aggregated data would be presented to management.

After details of the program appeared in the Seattle Times, Boeing employees reacted as expected. Within a day, a Boeing email stated the program “has been canceled, and we are removing the sensors that have been installed.