Federal officials plan to ban airline seating fees for children traveling with their parents

Federal regulators are preparing a new rule that would require airlines to waive fees for children traveling with their parents.

In a notice scheduled to be published Friday in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Transportation intends to require that airlines seat children 13 and younger next to their parents at no additional charge.

Seat-picking fees have become common on many airlines, and DOT officials said that requiring parents to pay more to sit next to their children is a disincentive for families to travel together.

Alaska Airlines, American, Frontier and JetBlue already guarantee that parents and children can sit together at no additional cost; Allegiant, Delta, Hawaiian, Southwest, Spirit and United do not have that guarantee, according to a count kept by DOT.

The draft rule would not apply to airplanes that seat 30 or fewer passengers, meaning that Alaska’s small, regional air carriers would be generally unaffected.

The new rule was authorized by Congress under the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. That law, signed by President Joe Biden in May, passed with the support of all three Alaska members of Congress.

Friday’s notice opens a 60-day public comment period that starts the formal rulemaking process. After the comment period closes, the agency may make further revisions before writing a final rule.