Airlines encouraged to make sure child seat assignments with family members

Transportation Department airline child seat assignments overview: 

• Who: The Transportation Department sent a notice to airlines last week regarding child seat assignments. 
• Why: The agency wants airliners to do more to ensure children under the age of 13 are able to sit next to a family member while on a flight. 
• Where: The notice was sent to airlines nationwide. 

The Transportation Department has sent a notice to airlines instructing them it would like more to be done to allow children under the age of 13 to sit next to an older family member while traveling by plane. 

The agency told airlines that they should “do everything they can” to make sure that a young child does not have to be separated from their family while on a flight. 

The agency says it will begin monitoring airlines starting in November to see how they are managing the issue and may consider proposing new regulations.

Airlines for America, a trade group, responded to the notice by declaring that air carriers “have always worked to accommodate customers who are traveling together, especially those traveling with children, and will continue to do so,” Reuters reports. 

The Transportation Department, meanwhile, says it has received in excess of 500 complaints over the past five years — around 1% of all airline complaints — by families who have been unable to sit together while on a flight. 

Congress previously asked airlines to make sure child seat assignments were with family

In 2016, Congress previously asked airlines to ensure children are able to sit next to their family members without having to pay more, but the Transportation Department never drafted any rules, ABC News reports. 

The agency suggested airlines could help ensure children are seated with family members by setting aside areas for family seating and assigning adjacent seats during the booking process. 

It is a common tactic for airlines to charge passengers more to choose where they sit, and there is currently no law in place that would force them to upgrade someone to another seat if that seat would cost more, ABC News reports.

In addition to the notice regarding child seat assignments, the agency also issued a bill of rights for passengers dealing with disabilities. 

In related airline news, in February, the Eleventh Circuit determined that a federal law did not protect an airline in Venezuela from accusations that it imposed a surprise fee on its passengers. 

Have you been separated from a young family member while taking a flight? Let us know in the comments! 

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