‘No one should have to pay more to sit with their kids’: Biden on family seating fees charged by US airlines

Washington: US President Joe Biden on Tuesday asked all domestic airlines to follow the American Airlines model in committing to doing away with family seating fees as part of their customer service plans. Calling out the unfair practice in vogue in US civil aviation, the President wrote on Twitter, “No one should have to pay extra to be seated with their kids. Time for more airlines to follow suit.” Earlier last month in his State of the Union address, Biden had urged airlines to take appropriate action, saying, “Baggage fees are bad enough - airlines can’t treat your child like a piece of baggage.”

I called for airlines to eliminate family seating fees in my State of the Union – and today, @AmericanAir announced they're doing just that.

No one should have to pay extra to be seated with their kids.

Time for more airlines to follow suit. https://t.co/p7ZEwIW3Z8

— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) February 28, 2023

Airlines for America, which represents the largest US airlines, had then said its carriers do not charge for family seating. Other domestic carriers, however, have not adopted the commitment in customer service plans. The US government has hinted that airlines which do not honour commitments in written plans can now face enforcement action from the US Department of Transportation. USDOT plans to propose regulations to bar airlines from family seating fees and will next week disclose on a government dashboard which airlines have committed to not charging such fees. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the family seating dashboard will “show which airlines guarantee families can sit together for free” and praised American Airlines for “becoming the first US airline to commit to putting this guarantee in its customer service outline.” The airline said its written plan “provides additional clarity” and is “proud to offer industry leading, customer-friendly policies that ensure a positive travel experience for families.” Last week, Buttigieg said US budget carrier Frontier Airlines introduced measures under which at least one parent will automatically be seated with any child within their family group who are under the age of 14 at no additional cost. Other domestic carriers such as United Airlines also added last week it would make it easier for children under 12-years old to sit next to an adult by using a new seat map dynamically locating available adjacent seats at booking. The US President in September had flaunted his administration’s “cracking down” on prominent US airlines to improve treatment of passengers after they updated customer service plans for services provided when flights are cancelled or delayed. At that time, nearly all airlines agreed to offer passengers meals and overnight stays for delays within their control. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.