On Tuesday it has been stated by one Senator from New Jersey that majority portion of the 4.3 billion dollars worth fees collected by the US airlines from changing tickets and baggage checking in the first nine months were hidden and had surprised air travelers.

Robert Menendez, the Senator from the district of New Jersey state that much of those fees came by surprise as majority of the fees were not disclosed clearly to customers.

He further stated that the figure of 4.3 billion dollars that had been reported on Monday by the department of Transportation did not include all the fees charged by airlines like fees charged for early boarding and selection of a seat.

These remarks by the Senator came after Continental Airlines announced a new fee on Monday and a speech given by the former CEO of American Airlines, Robert Crandall in which he said that airlines should be more transparent bout charging fees.

From the new Continental Airlines fee one customer will be able to hold reservation and lock in a price for upto one week before the customer pays for the ticket.

Mary Clark, the spokeswoman of Continental Airlines stated that fees start from five dollars for each reservation for holding the seat for seventy two hours and nine dollars for holding it for seven days. Depending on the itinerary and the number of days before departure the fees vary.

In one of the airline symposiums happened in Turkey on 7 December Crandall stated that the aviation should not object if passengers ask for the clear disclosure of extra fees that they pay because that will go against the good name and reputation of airlines.

Under a proposed Transportation Department rule all the US and foreign airlines have to disclose prominently on their websites all increases on baggage fees as well as optional fees.