Right now, domestic airlines treat traveling families differently. A handful, such as JetBlue Airways, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, guarantee that parents can sit next to their children. But on the others, parents are left to pay for more expensive assigned seats or to bank on the good will of strangers.
Recently, President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have pressured airlines to implement fee-free family seating, a continuation of the Biden Administration’s push for airlines to be more transparent and accommodating of travelers. President Biden even called on Congress to pass legislation targeting fees for families to sit together.
Instead, the Transportation Department is directly taking aim at them with a new rule proposed today.
“Many airlines still don’t guarantee family seating, which means parents wonder if they’ll have to pay extra just to be seated with their young child,” Mr. Buttigieg said in a statement. “Flying with children is already complicated enough without having to worry about that.”
Here’s what you need to know about the new rule.
It would be free for children age 13 and under to sit next to at least one parent or accompanying adult.
And airlines would need to disclose this policy upfront on online platforms and when travelers call customer service to research or book a fare.
“Next to” means in the same row, when available.
When adjacent seats in the same row are available, airlines will be required to seat parents next to their children, within 48 hours of booking. If this isn’t possible, children could be placed across the aisle or directly in front of or behind a parent or accompanying adult.
Family seating would need to be available within every class of service.
If the airline can’t seat a family together, passengers must be given a choice between a full refund or waiting to see if family seating does become available later.
If nothing opens up, families will either be rebooked on the next available flight with adjacent family seating, or they can choose to sit apart from one other.
Airlines would be penalized for noncompliance.
Each instance of a fee paid for family seating or a child involuntarily seated away from a parent or accompanying adult would be considered a civil violation. Civil penalties against airlines can reach up to $40,000.
The rule would not go into effect anytime soon.
It takes several months for a rule to go into effect. The rule will now go through a public comment period, which generally lasts three months, before becoming final. The final rule would then be published in the Federal Register before it is eventually implemented.
Rules can also be delayed.
In April, the Transportation Department issued a final rule targeting “junk” fees that would require airlines and ticket agents to display any extra fees for services such as checking bags or seat selection clearly and individually before a ticket purchase. They would also need to outline the airline’s policies on baggage, cancellations, adjacent family seating and changing flights before a customer purchases a ticket.
This rule, which was to go into effect this October, was temporarily blocked this week by a U.S. Appeals Court, pending a full review of the regulation. A hearing will be scheduled at the next available session for oral arguments.
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