Senators Challenge Airlines on Rising Fees and Privacy Issues (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: A new twist this morning in the fight over airline fees, which have soared to new heights. Members of Congress are now demanding an explanation from two budget carriers. This morning, as analysts warn about airfares rising in the coming months by an average of nearly 20 percent, a bipartisan group of senators is demanding to know if airlines are charging you more for a ticket depending on your zip code. The senators writing a letter to the CEOs of budget carriers Spirit and Frontier Airlines asking them to explain their apparent practice of using customers' personal information to charge different seat fees to passengers on the same flight. Adding, your lack of transparency raises concerns that your airlines use customers' personal information to manipulate seat pricing. The letter follows a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill last month.

Speaker 2: They feel with more than understandable justification that they are piggy banks to be shaken down by these skyrocketing fees.

Speaker 3: You just say, you want to pick a seat, we're just going to charge you some random amount more. Executives rebutting those claims.

Speaker 4: Optional services by definition are not so-called junk fees, as optional services are not required to travel.

Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines is addressing a different issue, what passengers can and cannot wear on a flight after this moment went viral. A Texas father removed from a flight last week for wearing a hoodie with an expletive on it. Now, Spirit is officially banning what it calls lewd and offensive clothing and body art, including see-through clothing, exposed breasts, buttocks or other private parts. The senators want Spirit and Frontier to end the practice of collecting personal information before showing fees. They've asked the airlines to respond to their letter by February 25th.