There's been another big win for consumers at the U.S. airports.
On Thursday, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it has proposed a rule that forbids commercial airlines from charging families extra to be seated together.
As American families know all too well, the biggest airlines have shamelessly converted the protection of your children into a profit center, slapping parents and guardians with seat reservation fees to guarantee they can sit by each other. Over the years, there have been reports of children as young as 2 being separated from their guardians by airline fee impositions. Some instances involved kids with special physical needs.
Safety concerns aside, on airlines that charge seating reservation fees of $25 each, White House officials estimated, the change will save a family of four up to $200 roundtrip.
"The idea that parents ought to be seated next to their own children on a flight is common sense and also seems like something that ought to be standard practice," said DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg when announcing the change to the press.
"We are requiring that an airline not charge you extra to sit next to your kids—or your grandkids. It applies to any accompanying adults," Buttigieg told CBS Mornings during his announcement.
The change was signaled in advance during the 2024 State of the Union address earlier this year. "Baggage fees are bad enough," U.S. President Joe Biden said then. "They can’t just treat your child like a piece of luggage."
Under the new rule, airlines that fail to provide adjacent seating to families at no extra charge will be required to allow passengers to cancel or rebook their flights without penalty. The rule defines a child as anyone aged 13 or younger.
"This proposed rule is fantastic news and a long time coming. Of all the many ways airlines have found to nickel-and-dime passengers with junk fees, the most heinous has been their refusal to waive seating fees for young kids to remain with their parents and caregivers," said William McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) and a Frommers.com columnist. “This is truly the end of an era and the end of an error."
An AELP statement noted that "prior to the launch of the DOT’s Family Seating Dashboard [in 2023], none of the ten largest domestic airlines waived fees for kids 13 and under."
After the DOT asked airlines to change their family seating policies voluntarily, just four airlines bothered to do so: Alaska, American, Frontier, and JetBlue.
Now all the airlines that refused to relent—including Delta and United—will be forced to banish family fees.
Just last week, Southwest Airlines announced it will abandon its decades-long policy of open seating and begin charging for seat reservations. The family-fee ban would apply to its incoming policy as well.
Congress gave the DOT the power to outlaw fees like this when it passed the FAA Reauthorization Act, which was signed by President Biden in May.
The U.S. airlines are fighting to resist these popular fee bans. This week, an appeals court put a temporary block on a new rule that also would require airlines to disclose all fees up front by April 30, 2025.
Last April, the DOT said consumers were overpaying $543 million in fees annually. Full details about the rollout of the new rule will be announced later.
