The Transportation Department is rolling out an online dashboard to let travelers see at a glance which airlines help families with young children sit together at no extra cost.
The announcement Monday comes as the department works on regulations to prevent families from being separated on planes.
It’s the latest salvo in the Biden administration’s efforts to clamp down on so-called “junk fees” and to put pressure on airlines to improve service.
The dashboard rewards airlines with a green check if they guarantee that an adult family member can sit next to their young children if seats are available. On Monday, only three of the 10 U.S. airlines listed on the website received a green check: Alaska, American and Frontier.
The site also includes links to each airline’s customer policies.
“Every parent knows that it can be so stressful flying with children and sometimes airlines aren’t making it any easier,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a video touting the new dashboard. “As recently as a month ago, not one U.S. airline guaranteed that a parent and child could be seated next to each other without potentially having to pay extra and unnecessary costs that effectively punishes families for wanting to travel together. We have been pushing airlines to change their policies and drop these junk fees and we’re getting results.”
Buttigieg pledged that “we’re not stopping there,” adding: “This year, we’re launching regulations to require that airlines allow children 13 and under to sit with a parent or legal guardian at no extra cost.”
“This is all part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s continuing efforts to lower costs for consumers and to empower American passengers and we’re not going to be letting up,” he continued.
Airlines say they try and usually succeed at seating families together, but they have stopped short of making iron-clad promises. This year, several carriers have pledged to make changes in their seating policies.
Last month, Frontier Airlines said it would automatically seat at least one parent next to any child under 14.
Last week, American Airlines updated its customer-service plan with a guarantee that children 14 and under would be seated next to an accompanying adult at no extra cost.
United Airlines said it would let families with children under 12 to pick adjoining seats at no extra cost starting in early March in certain fare classes. The announcement seemed to fall short of DOT standards, however, because the department issued a notice last July that it intends to ban extra charges to have a family adult sit next to children up to age 13.
