American, United, and Southwest Send Warning About Legislation

Lawmakers are proposing a bill aimed at reducing fees charged by credit card companies has sparked a response from some of the biggest names in the airline industry as American, United, and Southwest have all issued a warning about the ramifications that the bill will have on frequent fliers.

The legislation, proposed by United States Senators Roger Marshall and Dick Durbin, is an amendment to the crypto-focused GENIUS Act that looks to expand competition for credit card providers and lower swipe fees.

However, an open letter signed by many of the biggest names in the airline industry – American, United, Southwest, Boeing, and Airbus – has issued a clear warning to American consumers about the ramifications of these changes.

The letter warned that these changes could lead to the end of popular rewards credit cards that give consumers frequent flyer miles for making transactions.

"Americans value and enjoy credit card rewards programs because they reward consumers for dollars that they would be spending no matter what," the letter states via Business Insider. "Many may be unpleasantly surprised if Congress disrupts those programs."

These changes, the letter warns, could sharply reduce air travel and harm overall tourism.

The letter states that over 31 million Americans hold airline travel reward cards and 57 percent of all frequent flier miles and points issued in 2023 were generated by airline credit card use.

Nearly 16 million domestic air trips were awarded from points earned through the use of an airline-branded credit card in 2023, the letter points out.

Durbin, meanwhile, has pointed out that airlines generate billions of dollars annually in fees from these airline-branded credit cards. He has previously gone as far as to suggest that the major airlines are "basically credit card companies that own some planes."

Airlines successfully defeated efforts in 2023 to pass the measure, but it is now attached to a cryptocurrency bill. We'll have to see if the measure passes this time.