Fuel prices, including jet fuel, have fallen dramatically over the last several months, yet airfares have not dropped for consumers.
Some airlines, such as British Airways, impose a fuel surcharge, which boosts the price of a plane ticket for travelers. They did it when oil prices were over $100 a barrel, and most are still doing it even though oil prices have fallen 55 percent since June.
The Business Travel Coalition today said it’s urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to launch a “thorough and in-depth investigation” of airline industry practices regarding fuel surcharges.
“We believe that the continued, widespread imposition of these substantial, add-on fuel surcharges in the face of plummeting jet fuel prices cannot be justified,” coalition chairman Kevin Mitchell said today in a statement. Airline fuel surcharges are an “unfair method of competition” and “inflict massive overcharges on consumers.”
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