So, when is a family-seating policy actually a family-seating policy? That’s a question thrown into question by differences between what U.S. airlines are saying and what the Department of Transportation requires they guarantee to get a green checkmark on DOT’s new dashboard.
DOT says that airlines must have a written policy, in their official customer service plan, that guarantees that children 13 and under will be seated with a family adult and without paying any sort of extra seating fee. Items in the customer service plan are enforceable by DOT.
Several of the airlines that show on the dashboard with red x marks claim the dashboard is unfair and that they do, in fact, seat families together. United, the first major airline to publicly commit, is off because it set the line at 12 rather than 14.
Delta and Allegiant say they always seat parents and children together, but have not made formal promises in their customer service plans, while Southwest, which does not assign seats in advance, argues that its ‘family boarding’ group early in the boarding process meets the standard.
While it is possible that publication of the new dashboard, one of several the department maintains for various aspects of customer service, will push more airlines to comply, there is also the pressure of possible legislation the Administration says it will send to Congress in the near future.
