United Airlines recently abolished the change fee and soon after that more airlines followed its footsteps. Just a day after, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines also announced that they will remove changes fee for domestic and some international travel permanently. It’s no secret that many travelers hated paying change fees and surely they would appreciate this decision by the three airlines.
Both airlines release a statement on 31 August that we are removing change fees to provide customers more flexibility, so they can change their travel plans. This would be extremely helpful for the customers especially during this crisis time.
Although, it’s not certain that this change in policy would be long-term let alone permanent. This is what an airline financial analyst thinks who said the decision just came before the government financial aid expires, so it can’t be said for sure whether it will be permanent or not. Also, if a lot of customers change their flights and make it difficult to plan profitable flights, they might have to reevaluate the decision.
Delta chief executive said we want to provide flexibility in a different way then what has been provided by the industry in the past. This decision shows that we want to provide the needed flexibility and care to our customers.
American Airlines announced the decision just a few minutes after the Delta and presented the same explanation. Airlines chief revenue officer said that we want to take care of our customers at every point in their journey.
Analysts believe that passengers would surely welcome this decision, but the airlines might suffer a little financial damage. Many airlines had already eliminated change fees earlier this year due to coronavirus, so no money has been made in this area since then. Airlines are also providing other flexibilities to help customers plan their travel easily and reach their destinations on time. Special times require special measures and this is just an example of that.