Ancillary Revenue and Price Fairness: An Exploratory Study Pre Post Flight

The growing impact of Ancillary Revenue on consumer choice and shopping behavior continues to be a highly debated issue. In the US, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has stepped into the debate and is investigating the possibility of new rules on how airlines must report and display such ancillary offerings. While the DOT collects data, reports on the amount of ancillary revenue earned by the airlines continue to rise. Examining past research on price fairness from the marketing literature and the impact of revenue management on price fairness from the aviation literature, this article joins new research appearing on the impact of a la carte pricing and ancillary revenue on perceptions of price fairness. This study focuses on the issue of price fairness pre and post flight and how ancillary price offerings are communicated to consumers when purchasing airline services.