When oil prices shot up a few years ago, many transportation and delivery businesses started adding fuel surcharges to their prices.
Now, fuel prices are plunging, but lots of those surcharges still linger, and consumer advocates are crying foul.
The drop in the cost of oil is a huge factor in the airline industry, where 30 percent of all expenses are for fuel. But airlines, along with other industries with large fuel expenses, have been slow to respond with lower prices.
Jean Medina, a spokesperson for Airlines for America, a group that lobbies for major cargo and passenger airlines, says carriers are still adding surcharges — but only on international flights. Each carrier determines what fees to tack on, and they can use those additional revenues to cover any expenses — not just fuel.
