The U.S. Department of Transportation launched a dashboard that informs parents and caregivers about airlines' seating policies and fees for families with children.
The dashboard aims to assist families in avoiding family seating fees and help them make informed decisions while booking flights, according to a March 6 news release.
"Three of the 10 largest U.S. airlines have now guaranteed that when a parent buys tickets for their family, children can sit with them at no extra cost," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter. "It's time to make that 10 out of 10."
The Airline Customer Service Dashboard includes information on airlines' policies and fees for basic economy, carry-on bags and early boarding options, the release reported. It also provides information on airlines' refund policies and the availability of children's meals. The dashboard is part of the DOT's ongoing efforts to ensure that airlines are transparent in their fees and policies.
“Parents traveling with young kids should be able to sit together without an airline forcing them to pay junk fees,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release. “We have been pressing airlines to guarantee family seating without tacking on extra charges, and now we’re seeing some airlines start to make this common-sense change. All airlines should do this promptly, even as we move forward to develop a rule establishing this as a requirement across the board.”
The Department of Transportation has taken several actions to protect the traveling public, including administering the largest fines in the history of the consumer protection office, helping hundreds of thousands of people get more than $1 billion in refunds and proposing new rules on airline ticket refunds and enhancing transparency of airline ancillary service fees, the release said.
The proposed rule on airline ticket refunds would require airlines to inform passengers of their right to receive a refund when a flight is canceled or significantly changed and provide non-expiring vouchers or travel credits when people can't travel due to COVID-19 or other communicable diseases, according to the release.
The proposed rule on enhancing the transparency of airline ancillary service fees would require airlines and travel search websites to disclose upfront any fees charged for services such as sitting with your child, changing or canceling your flight or checked or carry-on baggage, the release reported.
Public hearings for both proposed rules are scheduled for March 2023, according to the release.
