In his recent State of the Union address, President Biden made it clear that one of his current focuses is eliminating the sort of annoying add-on charges that every day Americans have learned to begrudgingly accept, if not tolerate.
As part of his Junk Fee Reduction Act, Biden has zeroed in on eliminating add-on fees from Ticketmaster, as well as hidden fees from resorts and internet service providers. He’s also taking the metaphorical ax to various extra charges from airlines, zeroing in on one that seems to stick in the craw of this most grandfatherly of Presidents, the extra charge some airlines impose for parents that want to make sure they sit with their children.
“Americans are tired of being played for suckers,” he said. “Baggage fees are bad enough — airlines can’t treat your child like a piece of baggage.”
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Now Biden and United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg have made a move to continue to nudge the airline industry in a more family friendly direction, and it might just save consumers some time when they book their next flight.
Which Airlines Are The Most Parent Friendly?
The Transportation Department has introduced an Airline Customer Service Dashboard that lets people see which airlines will let parents or guardians with young children sit together at no extra cost.
The dashboard also lists which airlines will offer speedy refunds as well as meal and hotel vouchers for travelers whose flights were delayed or canceled, another priority for Buttigieg.
The dashboard gives airlines a green checkmark if they guarantee that an adult family member can sit next to their young children if seats are available.
At the time of this writing, of the 10 airlines listed, only Alaska Air (ALK), American Airlines (AAL) and Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC) Frontier Airlines had earned the checkmark.
"Parents traveling with young kids should be able to sit together without an airline forcing them to pay junk fees," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a release announcing the dashboard. He gave his department credit for pressuring airlines, "and now we're seeing some airlines start to make this common-sense change."
United Airlines
Will The Dashboard Make Airlines Change?
The dashboard feels both like a way to reward the airlines that have already committed to adopting Biden’s request, and to single out those who have yet to change their policies.
In recent weeks, United Airlines (UAL) introduced a new policy where children 11 and under can sit next to an accompanying adult without extra charges, provided they are willing to switch flights if necessary, and its latest software update will find available adjacent seats at the time of booking for parties that include a child 11 and under.
Frontier also introduced a new policy in which at least one parent will automatically be seated with any children under the age of 12 that they are traveling with, for no extra charge.
The airlines singled out for not adopting the new policy, including Southwest Airlines (LUV) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU), have not yet indicated if they will make that change soon.
At the moment, Biden is in public pressure mode, but last month a group of Democratic senators introduced the Families Fly Together Act, which would require every airline to seat children 13 and under next to an accompanying adult without a surcharge. It’s, of course, unclear if the legislation will pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
