USAToday: Foul Play ? Jet fuel prices plunge, but Airlines Passenger fees defy gravity

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Foul Play? Jet fuel prices plunge, but passenger fees defy gravity

As any driver knows, oil prices have plunged in recent weeks and with them the cost of filling up the gas tank. Airlines are enjoying the same respite from the summer's record-breaking prices: Jet fuel fell to an average $2.16 a gallon last week, down 45% from its peak this July. But major airlines have been slow to share this good fortune with fliers.As any driver knows, oil prices have plunged in recent weeks and with them the cost of filling up the gas tank. Airlines are enjoying the same respite from the summer's record-breaking prices: Jet fuel fell to an average $2.16 a gallon last week, down 45% from its peak this July. But major airlines have been slow to share this good fortune with fliers.

When prices skyrocketed, the fuel surcharges were at least more understandable and palatable to passengers, who knew what it was costing to fill up their own gas tanks. But what goes up ought to come down. Instead, on international flights, just the opposite has been happening. In October 2007, when jet fuel cost an average $2.40 a gallon, the average surcharge on international roundtrips was, according to FareCompare.com, about $125. The average last Wednesday during a week when fuel averaged $2.16 was $300. Several flights across the Pacific carried surcharges of $506.

EU-Digest: Airlines scamming passengers on fuel surcharges: Surcharges paying the bulk of airline fuel bills

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Airlines scamming passengers on fuel surcharges: Surcharges paying the bulk of airline fuel bills

The cost of jet fuel for a transatlantic flight on British Airways can now be paid by the airline company almost completely by surcharges that are levied on passengers, according to a recent report. Beginning in May, BA added fuel surcharges to its ticket prices, with passengers paying from euro 100 to 130 additional on long-haul services of less than nine hours’ duration. These charges bring in euro 14.000 to the carrier on a 224-seat Boeing 777 London-New York flight. The same is true for flights on Virgin Atlantic. For some time, airlines have complained about the cost of fuel. Manufacturer testing shows that a Boeing 777 carrying 305 passengers typically requires 44 tons of fuel on a London-New York run. The estimate includes cargo and luggage in the calculation. At current oil prices of euro 600.85 a ton, the cost to the carrier would be euro 15.021.00, which would be nearly covered by fuel surcharges. Only very few airline companies reduced the fuel charges as fuel cost dropped dramatically during the past two months.

Many other airlines including KLM/Airfrance are involved in this "extra fuel surcharges" scam and several consumer organizations are not only looking into these charges, but are also planning to take legal action. In the meantime the European Parliament has been requested by representatives of European political parties to look into the matter. It was disclosed on Dutch TV this evening that there is also no transparency as to how these surcharges are calculated by the airline companies.