U.S. Transportation officials don’t think parents should have to pay extra to sit with their young children on an airline flight.
And they’re proposing a new rule that would make it so.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule that would ban airlines from charging parents more to sit with their young children.
The proposal, released Thursday, would force U.S. and foreign carriers to seat children 13 or younger next to their parent or accompanying adult for free.
If adjacent seats aren’t available when a parent books a flight, the airlines would have to either offer a full refund or let the parents wait to see if any becomes available.
If they don’t, airlines must give families the option to rebook for free on the next flight with available adjacent seating.
The Biden administration estimates the rule could save a family of four as much as $200 in seat fees for a round trip.
“Flying with children is already complicated enough without having to worry about that,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg said four airlines – Alaska, American, Frontier and JetBlue – already guarantee that children 13 and under can sit next to an accompanying adult for free.
Congress authorized the Department of Transportation to propose a rule banning family seating fees as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which was signed by President Joe Biden in May.
The legislation also raises penalties for airlines that violate consumer laws and requires the Transportation Department to publish a “dashboard” so consumers can compare seat sizes on different airlines.
“Any rule we put forward, we are confident it is well-founded in our authorities,” Buttigieg said during a conference call to discuss the family seating rule.
