When families sit together it's best for all passengers

Sadly, airlines need to be forced to let families sit together.

Let families sit together. Families are traveling together now that the pandemic is over. Today, the industry has to deal with rules that let families sit together on planes for no additional cost.

A new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) has been produced by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The Department is attempting to justify ignoring the bill when it was passed as part of the previous FAA Reauthorization Bill. First, DOT claimed the language of the bill was unclear, then they said that they were directed to create the NPRM. However, Travelers United sees a bill passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President and ignored by DOT. If the Department writes the rules and puts the bill into effect the airlines can complain rather than have DOT apologize for their past actions for ignoring the law.

At Travelers United’s urging, the President, in the latest State of the Union Address, urged Congress to pass a law that lets families sit together.

The bill for getting families together in planes has a long history. Travelers United has met for years on this issue with DOT.

In 2020 Congress, a new legislation dubbed the “Fly Together Act,” was introduced in the Senate by Senators Markey (D-MA), Schumer (D-NY), and Klobuchar (D-MN). A bipartisan companion bill has also been presented in the House of Representatives. The House version was introduced by Representative Ann Wagner (MO-2) and Representative Anthony Brown (MD-04).

This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to require that airlines let families fly together. The bill will mandate that toddlers and pre-teens, 13 years old or under, be allowed to sit together on flights with older family members at no additional charge.

Virtually the same bill was passed back in 2016 with the unfortunate words “if appropriate” in the language. DOT immediately decreed the bill as inappropriate without any research other than counting complaints.

The bill is a great idea for families. But actually, dealing with family seating is an excellent idea for the rest of the traveling public and the aviation industry.

Airlines have plenty of ways to let families fly together

Now, first up, the Fly Together Act just introduced in Congress doesn’t say airlines have to hold preferred seats for families. It would be easy and probably makes the most sense to block seats in the back of the plane. No one is saying families have to have the best seats. For that matter, seats blocked in the back of the plane could be held for people traveling with babies under two. (There might need to be some codicil to say people need to book 24 hours in advance, but in an emergency, airport personnel could still sort it out.)

Here are five reasons why seating set aside for families will benefit everybody

1. Late departures and seating issues.

At this point, it often falls to airport gate agents and flight attendants to try to sort out problems. One time, I flew from San Jose airport to Denver, and the gate staff got so cranky they ended up putting a family with young children in the exit row, which delayed the flight about 20 minutes while the then-upset flight attendants had to move people. (And the reason I know the story is that one flight attendant told me the airport people had done it before when they didn’t want to be blamed for a late departure.)

2. Nobody wants to sit next to someone else’s child.

Now, to be fair, I have been seated next to a few charming children traveling as unaccompanied minors. But I’ve also been on flights where, for example, children were kicking the seats nonstop, while their parents were seated somewhere else. And especially since airlines started charging for most seats, I’ve heard grumpy reports from business travelers about parents casually saying about their child, in a middle seat, “Can you keep an eye on him/her?”. At the same time, they sit elsewhere on the plane.

3. Travel agents get blamed for airline rules

You are being secretly taxed at airports

Travel agents (and airline reservations agents) often get the brunt of it. In SOME cases, due to preferred relationships with carriers, agents can get airlines to unblock seating together for families. If we can do something, we will. But often, it’s not possible. Some airlines say they’ll take care of it at the airport. Yes, travel agents understand it’s frustrating, but we don’t make the rules.

4. Onboard guilt-tripping is no fun.

It’s not that most travelers aren’t sympathetic. We’ve all been there with young kids, or at least remember traveling as children ourselves. And no one wants to be the bad guy or gal. I’ve personally changed my seat several times to a similar seat in a different location.

But when you have a great window or aisle seat that you booked early and/or paid extra for, it’s tough to have some parent saying, “Can you just switch to my middle seat back by the bathroom so I can sit with my kid?” Especially if it’s on a long flight. My husband once had a woman badger him for several minutes about giving up his economy plus aisle seat on a flight to London to switch to a middle seat in the second last row of the plane. (The flight attendant, who had given the woman and two of her children a free upgrade to economy plus, was not amused.)

5. It’s the right thing to do.

Flying is stressful enough these days. Even when traveling without children, there are hassles. And, many people also face economic stresses. (Wealthier travelers could still pay for extra legroom or first class.) Take one potential worry away from traveling families. It isn’t that hard.

Janice Hough

Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)

When families sit together it’s best for all passengers

Sadly, airlines need to be forced to let families sit together.