DOT PUBLISHES NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING ON FAMILY SEATING
September 10, 2024
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On August 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT” or “the Department”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) in the Federal Register which would require air carriers to seat young children adjacent to at least one accompanying adult at no additional cost beyond the fare, subject to four limited exceptions. The Department views family seating as a “basic service, essential for the provision of adequate air transportation.” Thus, the NPRM proposes to require carriers to provide adjacent seating for young children (age 13 and under) and an accompanying adult (age 14 and over). The NPRM proposes to define “adjacent” as two seats next to each other in the same row. DOT would not consider two seats separated only by an aisle as “adjacent.”
The NPRM provides four limited exceptions to the family seating requirement when:
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The young child is not traveling with an accompanying adult;
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The booking party or accompanying adult declines to accept the adjacent seats or chooses to sit apart from the young child;
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The number of young children traveling makes it impossible to provide adjacent sets due to the layout of the aircraft; or
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The young child and/or accompanying adult do not comply with the carrier’s check-in or boarding requirements.
Under the third exception, carriers are still required to seat young children and accompanying adult across the aisle from each other or seat the young child directly in front of or behind the accompanying adult. Open seating carriers such as Southwest would be required to board passengers in a manner that allows a young child and accompanying adult to secure adjacent seats on the flight. Assigned seating carriers would be required to provide adjacent seat assignments at the time of booking, if available. If adjacent seating is not available, the carrier would be required to offer the party the choice between: (1) a full refund or, (2) the option to wait for family seating to become available for the booked flight closer to the scheduled departure.
When a booking party chooses to wait for available family seating, and adjacent seats become available before the first passenger boards the aircraft, the carrier would be required to notify the booking party and assign the adjacent seats to a young child and accompanying adult as soon as the seats become available. Alternatively, if adjacent seats do not become available, the carrier would be required to offer the booking party and/or the accompanying adult the choice between free rebooking on the next flight available with family seating at no additional cost, or continuing travel in seats that are not adjacent.
Lastly, the NPRM proposes that carriers be required to clearly and conspicuously disclose their family seating policies on their public facing online platforms, and in some cases when a customer calls the carrier’s reservation center. Violation of this rule would subject the carrier to civil penalties on a per child basis, and if the carrier charged a fee for family seating, on a per fee basis.
DOT is accepting public comments until October 8, 2024. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like us to draft and file a comment about the NPRM on your behalf.
This Aviation Blog is intended to keep readers current on developments in the law. It is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr at 202.659.6622 or esahr@eckertseamans.com; Drew Derco at 202-659-6665 or dderco@eckertseamans.com; Jay Julien at 202.659.6648 or jjulien@eckertseamans.com, Andrew Orr at 202-659-6625 or aorr@eckertseamans.com, or Samanta Walter at 412.566.1920 or swalter@eckertseamans.com, or any other attorney at Eckert Seamans with whom you have been working.
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