United Airlines Holdings Inc said it will introduce a seating policy that would make it easier for adults to book adjoining seats for children under 12 without charges after President Joe Biden vowed to outlaw such fees in his State of the Union address this month.
(Bloomberg) — United Airlines Holdings Inc said it will introduce a seating policy that would make it easier for adults to book adjoining seats for children under 12 without charges after President Joe Biden vowed to outlaw such fees in his State of the Union address this month.
The carrier’s new system would find available adjacent seats at the time of booking, and would include upgraded seats if needed, it said in a statement Monday. If there are no adjoining seats available, the carrier will allow passengers to switch for free to another flight to the same destination, United said. The complete policy change will go into effect in early March.
The Department of Transportation said it would publish a dashboard of charges in order to bring transparency to families faced with unexpected fees to sit with their children, as well as work to ban such levies, after Biden touted his administration’s efforts to crack down on so-called “junk fees.”
United’s change comes after the DOT issued a notice last year, encouraging US carriers to have policies that allow children to be seated next to an accompanying adult to “the maximum extent practicable and at no additional cost.”
United said its first class, business class and economy plus seats would be excluded from the family seating policy change.
–With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein.
(Updates with DOT notice to airlines in fourth paragraph.)
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