The US Department of Transportation proposed a new regulation to prevent airlines from charging parents extra to sit with their young children. If enacted, this rule would allow children 13 or younger to sit next to an accompanying adult without any additional charge. Should adjacent seats be unavailable during booking, the rule mandates airlines offer families the choice of a full refund or the option to wait for seats to open up. If no adjacent seats become available before boarding, families could rebook for free on the next flight that has the necessary seating.
The Biden administration estimates that this change could save a family of four up to $200 in seat fees for a round trip. "Flying with children is already complicated enough without having to worry about that," said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He noted that some airlines, such as Alaska, American, Frontier, and JetBlue, already offer free seats next to accompanying adults for children under 13.
Congress enabled the Transportation Department to propose this rule as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act signed by President Biden in May. This legislation also increases penalties for airlines that breach consumer laws and mandates a dashboard for consumers to compare seat sizes across airlines. The department will gather public comments on the proposed rule for the next 60 days before finalizing it. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)