Transportation Department urges Congress to ban airline family seating fees

Secretary Pete Buttigieg proposed legislation that would "explicitly state" that U.S. and foreign airlines seat young children adjacent to at least one accompanying adult at no extra cost.

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March 13 (UPI) -- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged Congress to pass the necessary laws to guarantee families are allowed to sit together while traveling by plane, without incurring extra fees.

In a letter released Monday, Buttigieg called on lawmakers to mandate the fee-free family seating on all American carriers.

"Upon review of the airlines' seating policies, DOT remains concerned that airlines' policies do not guarantee adjacent seats for young children traveling with a family member and that airlines do not guarantee the adjacent seating at no additional cost," Buttigieg said in the letter.

Buttigieg proposed legislation that would include a provision that would "explicitly state that U.S. and foreign airlines shall seat young children adjacent to at least one accompanying adult at no additional cost, subject to certain conditions such as the family being booked in the same class of service."

This comes a week after the Department of Transportation opened a new online family seating dashboard to assist passengers searching for which airlines will allow them seat their families together without extra fees.

The Department of Transportation then encouraged all airlines to join the portal.

Airlines often require additional fees in order for families to sit together on a flight.

Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines and American Airlines, the country's biggest carrier, guarantee fee-free group seatings for families.

Pushing back against those charges has been a priority of President Joe Biden's administration.

Biden called on Congress to pass legislation to ban the fees during his recent State of the Union.

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