The Biden administration is initiating a rulemaking to require that airlines seat families with children age 13 and under together for free. Generally speaking they already do, under pressure earlier in the administration. In fact, DOT has a dashboard showing this and since it’s part of airline customer service plans it’s enforceable. American followed, United’s first move and everyone else went along.
This new rule would change the penalties and procedures, though.
- Airlines have to seat parents next to children 13 or under within 48 hours of booking. That means in the same row, not separated by an aisle.
- This is required in every class of service, even small cabins like first class, and basic economy can’t be defined as a separate class of only middle seats.
- If next to each other in the same row isn’t available, then across the aisle or directly in front or behind a parent is compliant.
- If that cannot be accommodated, then airlines must provide refunds or free rebooking (or waiting for such seating to open later, at the customer’s preference).
- And airlines will have to clearly disclose this right to family seating.
This would appear to make Southwest Airlines current open seating problematic, though the airline will be abandoning its open seating concept.
A year and a half ago Secretary Buttigieg asked for Congress to pass legislation requiring this, which suggests that he wasn’t sure he had the authority to do it on his own. A federal appeals court issued an injunction this week suggesting that DOT exceeded its legal authority in issuing a rule on how airline fees would be displayed whenever ticket prices are quoted.
The Biden administration proposed initiating a rule requiring airlines to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations, but never even issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for this. Family seating, like the airline compensation plan, can be seen as more of a political issue – middle class pocketbook-style – for the election rather than a policy that will be enacted. By waiting until the end of the current Presidential administration, when there’s not enough time to get to a final rule before January, they position that the only way this happens is electing Vice President Kamala Harris.
Airlines should want families to sit together. It means parents supervising kids, and it keeps other peoples’ kids away from unrelated passengers. It improves the cabin experience, and airlines aren’t going to lose a lot of money doing it. And it reduces complexity at the gate and during boarding, when families try to get the attention of gate agents and flight attendants for help with reseating – contributing to on-time departures.
The biggest impediment has been technology investment, to make assignable seats available when young children are on a reservation with adults or to program automatic seat assignments to populate together in that case.
So, those of us who don’t have kids get scr3w3d. On the TV show The Middle, the mom had a job of working phones for an airline. She had a customer that insisted all three in the party sit together with no one having a middle seat. Maybe the Biden administration should require that no family member gets a middle seat when they sit together.
Is this really that big of a problem that requires the attention of the federal government? Like tuition payoffs, this strikes me as the government rescuing people from their own laziness and poor planning. My wife and I flew many times with our two young children, and never had a problem.
Yeah, and the border is secure, the deficit has been reduced and Biden is fit as a fiddle.
As Gary mentioned, this is why Kamala Harris must be elected. If she is elected, she will solve many of the problems today.
What airlines will do is to block of the last 2 or 3 rows for families only.
What is families want to sit apart?
All classes are mentioned. How about lie flat business class? Those seats a r e always far apart and designed for the solo traveler?
As a frequent solo traveler or traveling with my spouse, I should not be punished for poor planning by parents and have my seat preferences denied. I would be ok with it so long as it was in proximity of my initial seat selection and preferred seat type (i.e. aisle). And of course, I know it’s always not possible to plan ahead in some situations, but that’s not the norm. I already get the requests when I board as it is and I’m tired of feeling like I’m the jerk when I’m not. Plane travel is frustrating enough. Sorry not sorry.
The free family seating section can be in the back of the plane.
Why do I have the feeling that I will be kicked out of my booked-three-months-in-advance front of the plane window seat (yes, I am one of those people) and reassigned to a middle seat 30 rows back to accommodate a family that didn’t bother to plan ahead….?
AND, I should note, threatened with being kicked off the flight if I complain.
All fine unless they start displacing solo travelers from the seats they booked and paid for months in advance to accommodate last minute family bookings. Asking if the person wants to switch voluntarily after boarding is one thing, but if the airlines start reassigning seats without consent then that’s a big problem IMO. Especially if one doesn’t find out their seat was reassigned until the last minute when it’s too late to find a better seat or make alternate travel plans.
If I’m forced to move from a prepaid seat position because of your or the airline’s incompetence, /someone/ is going to be paying compensation.
@ rjb — The guy running for president is too old. And he is a moronic racist.
For the people without kids complaining that parents did not plan ahead, give me a break. My not having kids you did not plan ahead. Are you expecting there to be police officers, firemen, doctors, nurses, etc to make your life better when you are 80? Probably. But how will those people exist, assuming thats a pretty hard job to do at 80? By other people having kids. Something they planned ahead for, and you didnt, the continuation of civilization. So please thank them for planning ahead and if you get a slightly worse seat, cry me a river. As for the idea they should plan ahead (even though in a more important sense maybe you didnt) not everything is POSSIBLE to plan ahead for. Not everyone is a frequent or expert traveler. An infrequent low status traveler booking tickets can plan all they want, but due to not having status and not being very familiar with all the aspects of traveling they may still be suck with bad seating assignments. Maybe a relative died and they are traveling for a funeral and booking on short notice when other seats are already assigned. Should their 10yo daughter get molested sitting alone while they fly to their dads funeral because all the seats together were taken? I guess in many, though not all, cases they could pay extra large fees for early boarding and assigned seats that higher status travelers get free and more experienced travelers can figure out how to scheme. But thats not a lack of planning ahead, thats a lack of being willing to spend lots of extra money and pay more than singles and business travelers because the airline decided to put a bigger cost to something critical for families (perhaps $50 each for assigned seats) than something for business travelers (perhaps $5 for wifi, or perhaps free alcohol which minors cant drink but dont get a discount, or perhaps no charge by weight of passenger or luggage which use more fuel for adults than kids). Families should be able to sit together without paying a family tax. Kids not getting molested is very important, more important than your ability to get wifi or have a mixed drink or frequently enjoy fast food. So give kids a break and let them sit with their parents and stop looking in the mirror and thinking you are george clooney because you are a more expert traveler than some random midwest parents and would have ‘planned ahead.’
A child under the age of being an unaccompanied minor should be seated with an older companion. That’s a fair regulation and one I would support.
I hope no one is voting for the president based on this issue. There are more pressing concerns in this country than seating arrangements on planes.
Congress did pass a law requiring this — it was in the FAA Reauthorization Bill and now the DOT is codifying what they were given the power to do in the bill.
When somebody’s seat has to be changed to accomodate a family, it should be somebody who did not pay for a seat assignment. And accomodating a family should mean that a child gets to sit next to or near one adult or older child in the family, not everybody together. You have to enter the birthdates of your party when booking, it should be simple enough to pre assign each child under thirteen next to an adult in their party. People who don’t pay (or have status) to select a seat should not be rewarded with any better seat than they would have gotten if they took the luck of the draw, in other words middle row back of the plane. But I can see it coming, Mama Karen demands not just any seat next to her kid but a better seat and for free.
@Marc…your post is rather moronic. You might want to revisit your comments and see if you can find the flaw in your argument.
ANA seating chart shows where infants (but not small children) are sitting, Something that all airlines should do. That way the passenagers can decide for themselves.
@James N…your post is rather moronic. You might want to revisit your comment and see if it actually contains an argument or just ridiculously condescending drivel that makes me deeply question the gender identity you are presenting by identifying as James rather than Jamie. People who have kids make the world go around. Many countries are experiencing a shortage of kids because of bros who think their power point and bitcoin portfolio is more important than families and think people with kids are suckers yet are probably supporting 10 women and 10 young men on only fans feel entitled to get their way.
You guys are dumb. This would work by just letting families book their seats together at time of reservation.
The problem is that airlines have somehow latched on to the idea that reserving seats when you book a flight is the most amazing extra addon they can charge lots of extra money for, and they have bundled the two issues of what row you are in and whether your family can sit next to you into that same often big fee. For families, having their 10yo child sit by them and not next to strangers is a safety crisis issue, their child could be molested by some creeper. So if the family has money they are extorted to pay giant fees, and if they dont they are left to begging. Meanwhile for a decade or more the families paying these high fees have been essentially extorted into subsidizing the travel of wild and crazy singles and business travelers who dont have anyone in particular they need to sit next to and can avoid the fee and fly the same flight for less and probably get an aisle seat if they check in quick because familied generously volunteer and pay to take up middle seats. And worst of all, families who want to sit together can’t typically pay just for the sitting together, because its bundled with the right to pick the exact seats, so essentially they are paying to sit together, to get the first choice of what row to be in (but they probably dont care about the row), and to avoid middle seats (which they don’t want to avoid). And the family has to pay that fee for every seat so that really adds up. They have no option to pay just to sit together and not pay for row selection or exact seat selection that is usually just to get aisle seats. So they pay 3-5x fees for value of an aisle or window seat in the exit row all sitting together and all they get is to sit together because as a family they can’t be in the exit row or skip the middle seat but they pay anyway. Meanwhile there are a million things the airlines could charge $50 for that would hit singles and business travelers harder like internet, laptop privilege’s, alcohol service, extra fees for not being seated close to babies/kids, specific no middle seat guarantees, etc that the airlines have not monetized nearly as aggressively. Also in many prices models when you buy in bulk you save. A cell phone plan is cheaper per account with 5 lines than 1. Most groceries and household supplies are cheaper in bulk. Hotels dont charge directly per person. Rental cars dont either. The airline surely saves money on processing and customer support when you buy 5 tickets in one transaction as opposed to individually. They also rely on families to sit in middle seats that they know singles don’t want, yet offer no substantial discount for middle seats. And if there is a service interruption and they need to buy you a hotel, they will save money if you have a family where they only need to buy 1-2 hotel rooms for up to 5 people instead of 1:1. And if your flight needs to be rebooked due to weather, they will save money on customer service rebooking 5 seats on one call. Yet, airlines have not offered any such discount that many other industries offer to pass on these savings from customers who buy in bulk. Airlines have created a scheme where basically family travelers subsidize single travelers in many ways from coerced fees to reduced expenses. Its amazing to me that single and business travelers are outraged by families clawing back one shred of dignity when single travelers have been subsidized by families for so long.
Well, Marc, I guess I’ll have to explain it to you, as it appears you’re too dense to figure out. You took a debate about seating protocols on an airplane and morphed into a discussion about birth rates in society. Could you have possibly come up with a more irrelevant segue?
Also, you assume that anyone who doesn’t have “kids”, doesn’t have adult children. For example, I have a grown daughter (29) and therefore, aren’t concerned about her sitting with me while flying.
So, I stand by my belief that your comments were moronic and have no place in the issue being discussed here. And that includes the ridiculous insinuations made in your next post. Finally, if you want to have a measured debate, it usually helps to formulate a coherent, relevant position.
Why is this author so anti-family? I thought being a good MAGA supporter meant being all about family values, but now he wants to justify the unjustifiable. All the nitpicking around the rule won’t make up for the fact that it is just that fits conservative American family values like a glove.
The current situation, where the marketing says “generally” seating available but there’s ZERO consequences if not, is plain awful — the harm from airline mistakes is, as typical, 100% on the American flyer instead of the airline itself who caused it.
This is exactly why there is utter underinvesting in the technology: with no penalties, why should an airline prioritize and pay to develop software for family seating over e.g. software that implements a new fee? Airlines had all the time to develop the technology, they promised they would, and yet here we are, with not a single one having developed it. I am glad that they’re putting a stop to this silly “voluntary” experiment.
I agree that it could not happen, because if the weird orange felon geezer gets elected, he will prioritize the interests of big businesses over the American family has he’s always done. Hopefully the little guy will prevail.
Wow, Marc I’m with James here. Questioning a person’s gender identity and suggesting a new name? Maybe take the high road?
What is the appeal about sitting in the front of the plane? Assume the seats in the back and the front are the same regarding leg room, width etc. I’m perfectly fine with the back of the plane (except the non reclining last row) and never understood what’s the advantage of the front?
Most airlines already seat a child next to at least one parent. But with 90% plus load factors seating families together at check in just doesn’t work. If families want to sit together than they should pay for seats.
@JAY BLOOMFIELD – one of the advantages of sitting in the front (beyond the obvious one of getting off the plane sooner upon arrival) is that you’re sitting in front of the engines, where it’s quieter.
You want to sit with your kids with no status and no additional costs, sit in back of plane
In my opinion it is a non issue. Why bring a legislation why can’t Airlines have Rules and Procedures of their own. In my opinion Airlines must block off at least 3/4 rows in Economy Class and couple of Rows in JCL for families till the last minute at the same time have a cut off time for release row by row when they get more bookings. In a mechanised environment today it is more easier done than when we were in a manual environment may be 60/70 years ago? Also, those paid seats which will be encroached upon in the bargain must be paid back cost+ some compensation.