- Biden and the White House have taken aim at the extra costs families incur to fly together.
- Airlines are heeding the Biden administration's pressure to rein in this so-called "junk fee."
Airlines make billions each year by charging customers extra fees. But one fee, in particular, has become so loathed that after years of discussion, the White House is browbeating companies to stop the practice.
Consumer groups and President Joe Biden are aghast that carriers have effectively charged families more to sit together. Biden and his aides have added the surcharge to the list of so-called "junk fees" that he wants to end altogether along with "resort fees" and cable and phone providers making it difficult to cancel their services.
Some airlines are already conceding to the president's bully pulpit.
American, Alaska, and Frontier Airlines all announced that they would write a guarantee that parents would not have to pay more to sit with young children. Their moves came after the Department of Transportation unveiled a dashboard that blatantly singles out carriers refusing to meet the administration's preferred policy.
The cost of traveling together
Airlines can effectively charge more for parents to travel with their kids by imposing additional fees on seat selections or making it difficult to book tickets without additional hurdles. No airline explicitly imposes a "family seating fee," but consumer advocates have complained for years about how that's exactly what's happening.
"It means the passenger can choose airlines where this is important," Paul Hudson, the president of FlyersRights, a passenger-focused non-profit, told Insider. "It will also give them notice if they don't have that feature that they are probably going to have to pay extra or have family members separated."
Airlines for America, an industry lobbying arm that counts the big four, America, Delta, Southwest, and United, among its members, previously pointed out that none of its members explicitly charge a family seating fee.
The big four airlines "already work to accommodate customers who are traveling together, especially those traveling with children, and will continue to do so," Hannah Walden, a spokesperson for Airlines for America, said in a statement to Insider. "Each carrier has established individual policies, and all make every effort to ensure families sit together."
Consumer advocates caution that such a distinction is merely semantic, and promises alone won't fix the issue.
"When you charge a seat reservation fee to passengers, and you require someone who wants to sit next to their 13-year-old child to pay that seat reservation fee, that is a family seating fee whether they specifically call it that or not that's what it ends up being for travelers," John Breyault, a vice president at the advocacy group the National Consumers League, told Insider.
A bill to address it is in the works, but prospects are uncertain
Airlines that don't currently meet the DOT's preferred standard, such as Delta, have said they will work with families to ensure they can sit together. But the department has made it clear airlines will need to do more than simply make assurances. The Biden administration wants airlines to explicitly guarantee for a child 13-and-under with an accompanying adult with no additional costs. Airlines are allowed to condition their guarantees on seating availability and how the tickets were originally booked.
Buttigieg has pledged that the department will also go through the lengthy federal rulemaking process to formally institute a ban. In the meantime, Biden has also called on Congress to pass a law banning the list of junk fees.
"Baggage fees are bad enough – they can't just treat your child like a piece of luggage," he said. "Americans are tired of being played for suckers."
Breyault stressed that White House browbeating alone won't be enough. His organization is pushing Congress to pass a law banning the practice.
"These commitments need to be backed up by regulations that consumers can count on," he said. "If it's just taking the airlines at their word, their businesses and they can change on a dime."
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is working with a trio of other Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on separate legislation on just family seating. Consumer advocates are hopeful that Congress will address the issue in its massive, must-pass Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization.
Airlines have become reliant on extra fees
It is worth noting how we got here. As Nerd Wallet reported last year, the rise of budget airlines forced the traditional big names to generate more of their bottom line from what is officially known as ancillary fees. Fees now make up more than 20% of the total revenue US airlines generate.
It's not clear how much revenue the extra family-related fees generate, but it likely pales in comparison to other categories. In just three-quarters of 2022, major airlines made just under $5 billion in baggage fees alone, according to federal financial records the companies have to file.
During the Trump administration, the Transportation Department was required by Congress to study the extent of the family seating situation. The department found that only a very small amount of the complaints filed by passengers were related to such seating woes. It concluded that it was "unnecessary to direct airlines to establish policies on family seating" based on the low number of complaints at the time. It is worth noting that the federal complaint database almost certainly pales in comparison to the angry tweets, Facebook posts, and other ways Americans vent their rage at airlines.
Complaints filed since then outline some troubling scenarios. In 2021, an unnamed airline seated a mother's 11-month-old and 4-year-old children by themselves. A year prior, a six-year-old was separated from a parent. According to the complaint, the passenger sitting next to the child then watched R-rated content. Neither airline disputed the parents' respective accounts.