Traveling by air for families is already tough with higher airfares. Then add ancillary airline fees like checked bags and they push air travel costs to where many families can’t afford to fly. The U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has a new tool for families to help with costs. The DOT has listened and there is a new dashboard to help you decide
which airlines are helping families and which ones are not.
It’s A Good Idea
Keeping families together should be the rule and not the exception. It shouldn’t have to be an additional expense to parents to do this. There are valid reasons for keeping families together:
- Children need supervision,
- If there is an emergency, there is an adult there to assist,
- Some children have anxieties about flying a need their parents and
- There is the possibility of stranger danger when children are seated apart from their parents.
Airlines should realize that everybody will be better off when families are seated together and just do the right thing. Airlines are reporting record-setting profits so this should be a no-brainer – just do the right thing.
Airline Family Seating Dashboard
A parent who purchases airline tickets for a family should receive a guarantee from the airline that it will seat the parent and child together without fees or a last-minute scramble at the gate or having to ask other passengers to give up their seats to allow the parent and child to sit together. On February 1, 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced the Department’s plan to launch a dashboard that displays which airlines guarantee family seating. Since then, some airlines have stepped up to guarantee adjacent seats for young children traveling with an accompanying adult at no additional cost.
The DOT launched a new tool that is now live to help parents identify which airlines are working to keep families seated together during flights. The dashboard so far shows ten U. S. airlines:
- Alaska
- Allegiant
- American
- Delta
- Frontier
- Hawaiian
- Jet Blue
- Southwest
- Spirit and
- United
The dashboard has a simple display for showing which airlines are using family-friendly policies:
- Airlines with a green check mark have family-friendly policies and
- Airlines with a red X do not.
DOT is not satisfied with airline statements that they will “make efforts” to seat families traveling with children together at no additional cost. The Department urges all airlines to guarantee family seating. DOT will update the dashboard above to provide air travelers with clear information about the airlines that commit to delivering adjacent seats for a young child and an accompanying parent and those that do not.
The dashboard will serve as a bridge to help families while the Department advances a rulemaking to ensure airlines seat young children adjacent to a parent or other accompanying adult. In addition, the President has called upon Congress to fast-track the ban on family seating fees so that DOT can take action to stop those practices more quickly than through rulemaking.
Limited Conditions
There are certain conditions that apply to these family-friendly policies. If you need help sitting together, you need to know the limiting conditions ahead of time.
When using an airline that assigns seats, the airline can condition its guarantee on each of the following:
- The child and accompanying adult are on the same reservation;
- Adjacent seats are available at the time of booking in the selected class of service;
- Aircraft is not substituted for smaller aircraft;
- Adult either chooses seats for the entire reservation or skips seats for the entire reservation and does not make changes to seat assignments once assigned to them; and
- It is physically possible based on seat layout to seat the number of young children traveling next to the accompanying adult(s).
When using an airline with an open seating policy, the airline can condition its guarantee on the following:
- The child and accompanying adult are on the same reservation;
- Accompanying adult notifies the gate agent of the need for adjacent seats prior to the start of boarding; and
- It is physically possible based on seat layout to seat the number of young children traveling next to the accompanying adult(s).
Tips for Families
Understand the airline’s seating policies.
- You can obtain information about an airline’s family seating policies directly from the airline. This information may be available on an airline’s website. Some airlines provide important advice on their web pages about what to do or not do when booking a flight to best ensure young children will get a seat next to an accompanying adult. If you cannot find this information on an airline’s website, you may also contact the airline through its reservations to request this information.
- To best ensure that your family sits together, shop for tickets that allow you to reserve specific seats on your flight or consider airlines that guarantee fee-free family seating for all fare types.
- Note, basic economy fares are often lower fares and may not provide consumers with the ability to select a seat.
- If you are traveling with a child with a disability who you are assisting during the flight to perform a function that is not required to be performed by airline personnel, for example assisting with eating, and you self-identify to the airline, the airline is required to provide you a seat next to your child in the class of service that you purchased. Airlines may not charge for such adjoining seats.
- Advance notice or early check-in requirements may apply, so check with the airline about its policies as soon as possible before your trip if you plan to request a seating accommodation on the basis of disability.
- All airlines may allow a child under two years old to be held on a person’s lap during the flight; contact your specific airline for more information on its policy as the required age of the person holding the child varies by airline.
- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) encourages all passengers traveling with children under two years of age to use a government-approved child safety restraint system or device. For more information, please visit the FAA’s Flying with Children page.
- FAA regulations prohibit children under 15 and passengers caring for small children from sitting in exit row seats. Please contact your specific airline for more information on its exit row policy.
Book your ticket as early as possible.
- The earlier you book your family’s travel, the more likely it is that you will be able to reserve seats that are next to each other.
- If you tried to book your tickets early, and seats are not available together, contact the airline through reservations to ask whether additional seats will become available later.
Book children on the same reservation as adults.
- Airlines generally know travelers belong to one party only if all the passengers are on the same reservation record.
- Airlines assigning or reassigning seats give priority to parents and children on the same reservation.
Contact the airline directly through reservations if your family was not able to obtain seats together or if you are unsure about the status of your seats.
- Ask the airline how it may be able to accommodate your family in advance of your flight or at the airport.
- Discuss with the airline your concerns about a child in your party being seated alone. Even if the airline is unable to seat your whole family together, they may be able to assure you that each child is seated next to an adult family member.
- If you booked parents and children on different reservations, contact the airline as soon as possible to ask if the party can be put on the same reservation record or have their reservations cross-referenced in the booking notes.
Confirm reservations that are not booked with the airline.
- If you did not book your travel directly with an airline, obtain or confirm your seat assignments directly with the airline as soon as possible before the day of travel. This can be done either on the airline’s website or over the phone by contacting reservations.
Confirm reservations and seat assignments before going to the airport.
- You may wish to confirm your seat assignments before you would normally go to the airport as your seat assignments could have changed after booking due to an aircraft substitution with a different seating arrangement. If your seat assignments have changed, you can contact the airline to ask for help.
Plan to arrive at the airport early on the day of your flight
- Arriving early will give your family and the airline more time to address any seating-related issues.
- Airlines will do what they can at the airport to help families who self-identify to their agents as needed to sit together. Even if the airline is unable to seat the whole family together, they may be able to assure you that each child is seated next to an adult family member.
Final Thoughts
This just isn’t a good idea, the ultimate concern is the safety of children flying, especially on long-haul flights. The airlines are making record-breaking profits, they can help out families travel without breaking the bank. The family-friendly dashboard will help parents see which airlines are family-friendly. Maybe those airlines with the red X’s will adopt a family-friendly policy.
