The nation’s top airlines executives were grilled on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for larding on fees for checked luggage, assigned seats and other perks to extract more money from passengers.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate’s investigative subcommittee, hauled in top brass from American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier and slammed the carriers for charging exploitative fees. 

“Airlines these days view their customers as little more than walking piggy banks to be shaken down for every possible dime,” Blumenthal said.

He argued the federal government should review, and potentially fine, the airlines for their use of unnecessary “junk fees.”

Blumenthal’s threat came a day after Frontier boss Barry Biffle drew scorn after he defended one of the airline’s most contentious practices – paying gate agents $10 to catch travelers who attempt to sneak on an oversize carry-on bag.

“These are shoplifters. These are people that are stealing,” Biffle said on Tuesday. “It’s not equitable to everyone who follows the rules.”

On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley laid into airlines for charging passengers different fees for baggage on the same exact flight.

“This is Russian roulette,” Hawley said. “Nobody enjoys flying on your airlines. It’s a disaster. … It’s terrible. It’s absolutely terrible.”

The subcommittee took aim at what they call discriminatory seat fees – a practice that has yielded $12.4 billion in revenue for the five airlines between 2018 and 2023, according to a report released by Blumenthal last week. 

“We’re all captives on your airplanes at a certain point. You just say, ‘You want to pick seat? We’re just going to charge you some random amount more,’” Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire said. “It would be good if you guys could be transparent about what you do and why.”

The subcommittee’s yearlong investigative report found that companies are increasingly using algorithms to set higher prices for customers they believe will pay more.

Some of the senators were incredulous that the airline executives could not explain how they set the differing fees, and argued in favor of improved price transparency to make it easier for travelers to budget out their trips. 

But airline executives said their fees are transparent enough, and the varying tickets offer something at every price point.

Delta boss Peter Carter said the airline provides “options and value for every customer.”  

American Airlines Vice Chair Stephen Johnson also defended the pricing practice, saying carriers need to be able to “appeal to the most budget-conscious customers.”

Andrew Nocella, United’s executive vice president, said the company is already preparing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue after it ended its family seating fees in 2023 and plans to end its Wifi fees next year.

“Our customers who prioritize affordability have the option to choose a lower-fare product,” Nocella said. “But we also have customers who seek more services, and they retain the ability to choose the services they value, for an incremental fee, like a seat with extra legroom or checked bags.”

The subcommittee members also tore into the airline executives for paying their employees extra to stick boarding passengers with last-minute fees for trying to escape the carry-on baggage charges.

Budget airlines Frontier and Spirit paid $26 million to gate agents and other employees between 2022 and 2023 to seek out passengers with oversize items, according to the subcommittee’s report.

“If people want to know why it’s such a terrible experience to fly, this is news for them today,” Hawley told the airline executives. “Your airlines are paying millions of dollars to your employees to harass people who have already paid!”

Matthew Klein, Spirit’s executive vice president, said the low-cost airline stopped paying employees to tack on these last-ditch fees as of Sep. 30.

The airline industry is suing to block a Transportation Department regulation that would require more transparency around baggage and cancellation fees. A US appeals court blocked the rule over the summer, pending a full review.