WATCH: Josh Hawley Explodes On Executives During Fiery Senate Hearing, Exposes Industry

A fiery congressional hearing unfolded between CEOs for some of the nation’s biggest airlines and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who on Wednesday ripped their companies’ instances of “corporate greed” including paying bonuses to gate attendants who remove passengers from line if their bags are even “a few centimeters” too big.

The pugnacious Republican queried Robert Schroeter and Matthew Klein, leaders of discount airlines Frontier and Spirit, about incentive programs that pay employees to single out paying passengers preparing to bring a carry-on bag on board that’s just a hair’s width beyond the mandatory limit. The madness of flying, especially during a busy holiday travel season, was fertile ground for Hawley to tread as he flashed his populist credentials and held both men’s feet to the fire.

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“How much have you paid people to pull out customers who are in line with a bag that’s two centimeters too big?” Hawley asked Frontier’s CEO Schroeter. “We recognize this is a hard job, um, and so we incentivize them to do that,” he replied, adding that gate attendees are rewarded with a $10 bonus for each bag they confiscate. “Wow,” Hawley said as he hit his stride. “So I think, Mr. Schroeter and Mr. Klein, your airlines have cumulatively spent $26 million paying gate agents between 2022 and 2023 to catch passengers whose bags are too big,” he exclaimed. “If people want to know why it’s such a terrible experience to fly, this is news for them today. Your airlines are paying millions of dollars to harass people who have already paid!”

Turning to Klein of Spirit Airlines, he asked, “Why is it that you charge different people different fees for carry-on bags? Why isn’t it just a flat fee?” Spirit, which is regularly ranked among carriers having the lowest fares, makes up for more affordable tickets with a slew of baggage fees, a strategy that Klein lamely explained is meant to help his company remain profitable. “I got it, I got it. Money’s the answer,” Hawley interjected. “So last year, your carry-on bag fees ranged between $15 and $99. That’s extraordinary. One person might pay 15, another person might pay 99. How do you determine? Is it based on personal characteristics?”

“It’s never based on personal characteristics,” the Spirit Airlines CEO replied tersely. But Hawley didn’t let up. “Is it people who are suckers?”

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Hawley, a brash presence on Capitol Hill, has made a name for himself targeting corporate greed in an era where Big Business no longer aligns neatly with elements of the Republican Party. President-elect Donald Trump has regularly targeted corporations for shipping jobs overseas or shifting domestic manufacturing out of the U.S., an issue that even progressive Democrats acknowledge has hurt working Americans in the long run. Airlines, which service nearly half of all Americans each year, are the economy’s punching bag for those eager to channel their anger into a foil, something both Hawley and Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and President Joe Biden have used to their political advantage. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration finalized regulations limiting “junk fees” that airlines were able to charge customers, citing in part the extraordinary discrepancies in baggage fees across major carriers.

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