US airlines recorded $5.1 billion in checked baggage fees according to your article. US airlines recorded a revenue of $275.3B in 2024. This accounts for 1.8% of revenue. A further billion was change fees.
Net profit was $6.7B meaning literally all of their net revenue (a total of 2.25% of gross revenue) was accounted for from these ancillary fees.
But their inflation-adjusted cost went down 36% since 1995.
There were a total of about 1 billion emplanements by US carriers in 2024, ish, so we're talking about a total of about $6 per passenger per year. They really are insignificant.
