ORLANDO, Fla. — A month after adding it, Frontier Airlines says it will rescind a “COVID recovery charge” that it included in promoted passenger fares.

The Denver-based low-cost carrier said that in May, it started charging passengers an extra $1.59 per each trip segment and included the fee in its total promoted fare rather than as an add-on, for which it is known.

The airline did so “to provide transparency and delineate what portion of the fare was going toward Covid-related business recovery, including repayment of a CARES Act loan from the U.S. Government,” Frontier spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz told Spectrum News in an email on Wednesday.

“However, to avoid misinterpretation, the airline will discontinue the practice of breaking out this category within its overall promoted fares.”

De la Cruz did not reply to an email that asked whether the airline instead would build the charge into its fares.

It's unclear in what ways the airline presented the fee other than on its website, where Frontier said the charge offset costs from "implementing Covid-19 related measures, such as increased sanitation and cleaning onboard the aircraft and in the airport, shields at the ticket counters and gate areas, and personal protective equipment for employees."

Social media users this week chided the airline for charging the fee after receiving federal CARES Act assistance.

Frontier, which flies to more than 100 U.S. cities, had joined restaurants, dentists and other businesses that applied COVID-19 surcharges, especially early in the pandemic, to help recoup the added cost of extra cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment for workers.

Orlando International Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell told Spectrum News she was unsure of the effects of such fees on airport traffic and that she considered paying them “an individual passenger’s decision.”