U.S. airlines made $12.7 billion in profits in 2013 with the help of $6.1 billion in baggage and cancellation fees, according to statistics released this week by the Department of Transportation.
The agency said the profit margin was a jump from $98 million in profits that were raked in by the airlines in 2013.
The most profitable airline in 2013 was Delta Airlines, which $10.5 billion. Delta was followed by Southwest Airlines, which had $754.5 million in profits in 2013.
{mosads}The amount of money that was generated by baggage fees slightly decreased from $3.45 billion in 2012 to $3.35 last year. Passengers paid more for reservation changes in 2013, however, going from $2.54 billion in 2012 to $2.81 billion in 2013.
The airline industry’s profit margin was derived from spending $187 billion on operating expenses in 2013 while bringing in $199 billion in revenue. The DOT said $50.07 billion of the airline industry’s 2013 expenses went to fuel and $45.02 went to paying for labor.