Junk fees: US names and shames airlines over family seating

US airlines are being called out for their family seating fees as calls grow from the Biden administration to cut back on so-called junk fees.

The Department of Transportation (DoT) has launched a new dashboard in an attempt to put public pressure on airlines to address customer concerns.

It shows American, Alaska and Frontier airlines all allow families with young children to sit together for free.

Last month, a bill was introduced that would end the fees for all airlines.

"Parents traveling with young kids should be able to sit together without an airline forcing them to pay junk fees," US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.

"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," he stated.

"All airlines should do this promptly, even as we move forward to develop a rule establishing this as a requirement across the board."

Though most airlines say they will do their best to accommodate seating requests, only some carriers guarantee children will be seated next to an adult without a fee.

The family seating dashboard aims to provide "a clear comparison of services the airlines have committed to provide" and avoid "airlines' confusing claims on family seating".

The DoT guidelines say "to receive a green check on the dashboard, an airline must guarantee that parents can sit next to children age 13 and younger for free if adjacent seats are available when they book".

This must be included in an airline's customer service plan so that is enforceable by the DoT if they fail to deliver.

In August, the DoT introduced a similar airline dashboard which clearly defines what accommodations each airline provides after a delay or cancellation.

Even if some airlines specified benefits their fine print, this encouraged 10 airlines to explicitly guarantee meals and rebooking services.

In February, Democratic senators introduced the Families Fly Together Act, which would require all airlines to seat children under 13 next to an accompanying adult without a fee.

President Biden specifically called out airlines in his State of the Union speech, saying "airlines can't treat your child like a piece of baggage".