If you’re flying the friendly skies, watch your wallet.

Passengers are paying billions more in “junk fees,” according to a report released Tuesday by a subcommittee chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

But the airline industry dismissed the report as “another holiday travel talking point,” arguing that “flexible pricing” actually saves customers money.

At Tweed New Haven Airport, passengers are scrambling to get home for the holidays.

“It’s really easy today, which is really nice,” said Madison Rinder, a Yale Law School student headed home to St. Louis.

Something else nice at Tweed? A lack of extra fees on Avelo Airlines.

“The airline fees for Avelo are awesome,” said Shawn Sell, of Bridgeport. “I would recommend that to anybody.”

But that’s not the case with every airline. A new report from Blumenthal’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations claims travelers are getting hammered with “junk fees” and deceptive pricing.

According to the report, five carriers collected $12.4 billion in seating and baggage fees between 2018 and 2023. Extra legroom on a United flight could cost you up to $319, according to the subcommittee. The report said Spirit charged as much as $899 for its Big Front Seats in 2023, Delta charged up to $264 for more legroom, Frontier charged as much as $141 and American charged up to $140.

“These junk fees have to be stopped,” said Blumenthal. “The airlines are making more money on these junk fees for traveling with children, checking bags or taking them on planes.”

The report also accuses carriers of using ancillary fees to avoid a 7.5% tax on airline tickets – a charge Frontier Airlines denies.

“In accordance with IRS rules and regulations, we apply excise taxes to all products and services that are not optional,” the company said in a statement.

For airline employees, it literally pays to enforce fees.

“Frontier and Spirit paid $26 million to gate agents and other personnel to catch passengers allegedly not following airline bag policies, often forcing those passengers to pay a bag fee or miss their flight,” the report states. “Frontier personnel can earn as much as $10 for each bag a passenger is forced to check at the gate.”

Frontier told News 12 Connecticut that enforcing the rules keeps ticket prices down for all passengers.

“The commission for gate agents is simply designed to incentivize our team members to ensure compliance with bag size requirements so that all customers are treated equally and fairly, including the majority who comply with the rules,” the carrier said.

Spirit Airlines said none of its fees are hidden.

“We are transparent about our products and pricing, our airport policies ensure guests are treated fairly and equally, and we comply with all tax laws and regulations,” a Spirit statement said. “We respectfully disagree with numerous statements and conclusions contained in the report.”

Airlines may disclose their fees, but here’s something many travelers don’t know. The subcommittee found that airlines now use complex algorithms to charge some customers more based on their personal data.

“Internal marketing documents from 2022 show that Delta’s digital marketing team ‘built out propensity modeling to predict a customer’s willingness to buy-up based on their customer profile and unique characteristics,’” the report states.

Blumenthal said that “dynamic pricing” is unfair.

“At the gate, often the person taking tickets will charge dynamically,” he said. “Different amounts to different consumers.”

It may sound hard to believe, but the airline industry says fees actually save travelers money – by letting them choose what level of service they can afford.

“Under the one-size-fits-all pricing scheme that we had before deregulation, only the wealthiest Americans could fly,” said the trade group Airlines for America. “In this country, businesses are free to evolve to meet the needs of those they serve, and we are proud our companies have been able to meet the needs of today’s Americans by offering them choices.”

At Tweed, an airport spokesman said “flexible pricing” has made cheap flights possible.

“You’re able to offer flights to people throughout the price range. Flexible pricing has always been about accessibility and airlines filling up what would otherwise be empty seats,” said spokesman Andrew King. “There are different kinds of passengers who have different income levels and different things that they value, including whether they want to fly first class or they want to just get there.”

But tell that to passengers who feel like they’re getting nickel-and-dimed. “The fees are crazy,” said Sell. “The airline tickets themselves, the baggage claims.”

Blumenthal plans to question executives from all five airlines at a Senate hearing next Wednesday.

“Delta looks forward to the continued dialogue with the Subcommittee including appearing at next week’s hearing,” the airline said in a statement. “For more than a year, Delta has voluntarily responded to the Subcommittee’s sweeping requests, including providing documents and information, responding to numerous rounds of requests and follow-ons, and providing a senior level employee and subject matter expert at the Subcommittee’s request for a lengthy interview to discuss ancillary fees.”

United and American declined to comment on the report.

But next week’s hearing may be just for show. President-elect Donald Trump has promised sweeping changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has waged war on “junk fees” at airlines, hotels and banks, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.