RANT: I don't care if you want to sit next to your kids on the airplane

[DopeyDame]

Am I missing something big here, or isn't there a law that ensures that small children fly next to older family members, called the Families Flying Together Act? Whenever I mention it at the ticket counter, each of our children is seated by an adult. We may not all be together, but the airline works to make sure our children are taken care of, so we don't have to ask fellow passengers to help.

According to this, the law did pass but the actual DOT regulations to implement it haven't been developed: https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...insiders-really-think-their-rules/1003984001/

I wouldn't hold your breath for that to happen in an administration that is trying to loosen, not tighten, regulations.

 

[NotUrsula]

I flew SW on Tuesday and a family in one row put their carry on items in the seats in front of them. It was a seat I would have liked (exit row with more leg room). Any other time I might have said something but since the flight wasn’t full I just went back further and did not have anyone sitting in the middle seat. Not sure if SW allows the saving of seats. [snip]!

SWA doesn't have an official policy re: seat-saving, but if you want the seat, the FA will not defend the seat-saver. The best option if someone has pulled the "bags in the seats" tactic is to move it over, sit down & then ring the call bell and tell the FA that "someone accidentally left a bag behind from the last flight" ... I guarantee you that the offender will jump like a bunny to grab that bag before it gets sent out to baggage claim.

There is no official thing as a legitimately saved seat on SWA unless the passenger has purchased an extra seat to accommodate weight or a disability, in which case that person is given a little placard to place there during boarding. If there is no tush or placard in the seat, you have every right to take it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Am I missing something big here, or isn't there a law that ensures that small children fly next to older family members, called the Families Flying Together Act? Whenever I mention it at the ticket counter, each of our children is seated by an adult. We may not all be together, but the airline works to make sure our children are taken care of, so we don't have to ask fellow passengers to help.

You've got it partially right.

The Families Flying Together Act is virtually useless at this point as there is no regulation surrounding it. It was passed by Congress and that was all that has come about to it.

The DOT and subsequently the FAA have yet to create the required regulation and implement it.

When you personally are flying the airline is doing a courtesy rather than an obligation as far as seating children next to you.

And FWIW the Act is only for children under the age of 13 who would be seated adjacent to a family member as far as I know. I'm sure there have been multiple posters in this thread who have expressed they want their children aged 13 and older to be seated next to them so that Act wouldn't work for them once it actually gets implemented (well so long as it's not changed by the time it does get implemented).

 

[kaytieeldr]

Am I missing something big here, or isn't there a law that ensures that small children fly next to older family members, called the Families Flying Together Act?

Has not been passed, as far as I can tell, https://skift.com/2016/03/17/congre...te-that-families-sit-together-on-u-s-flights/ but if it does: "...IF A RESERVATION INCLUDES A CHILD UNDER THE AGE OF 13 TRAVELING WITH AN ACCOMPANYING PASSENGER WHO IS AGE 13 OR OLDER:

(1) WHETHER ADJOINING SEATS ARE AVAILABLE AT NO ADDITIONAL COST AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE; AND

(2) IF NOT, WHAT THE COVERED AIR CARRIER’S POLICY IS FOR ACCOMMODATING ADJOINING SEAT REQUESTS AT THE TIME THE CONSUMER CHECKS IN FOR THE FLIGHT OR PRIOR TO DEPARTURE.”

Apologies for all caps, but I lasted it directly from the link.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Has not been passed, as far as I can tell https://skift.com/2016/03/17/congre...te-that-families-sit-together-on-u-s-flights/

That article is from 2016. As others have posted above, the law has passed, but the FAA has not written up or implemented any regulation to enforce it yet.

 

[NotUrsula]

Has not been passed, as far as I can tell, https://skift.com/2016/03/17/congre...te-that-families-sit-together-on-u-s-flights/ but if it does: "...IF A RESERVATION INCLUDES A CHILD UNDER THE AGE OF 13 TRAVELING WITH AN ACCOMPANYING PASSENGER WHO IS AGE 13 OR OLDER:
(1) WHETHER ADJOINING SEATS ARE AVAILABLE AT NO ADDITIONAL COST AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE; AND
(2) IF NOT, WHAT THE COVERED AIR CARRIER’S POLICY IS FOR ACCOMMODATING ADJOINING SEAT REQUESTS AT THE TIME THE CONSUMER CHECKS IN FOR THE FLIGHT OR PRIOR TO DEPARTURE.”
Apologies for all caps, but I pasted it directly from the link.

That bill died, but the provision was included in a later bill that did pass; it is 49 USC 40101 (common title: FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-190) Hovever, that law, being a one-year funding extension, has now expired, because the FAA's ancillary operations are actually funded on a year-to-year basis. Congress did pass a 6-month extension that expired in March 2018, and has so far not been further extended.

Anyway, as other posters have pointed out, the bill only directed the DOT to consider creating a rule, and they haven't created one. Here is the summary from the Congressional Information Service's post-legislative report written in November of 2017:

Family Seating Section 2309 requires DOT to review and, if appropriate, to direct airlines to establish policies that would enable a child who is age 13 or under to be seated adjacent to an accompanying family member over age 13 “to the maximum extent practicable” at no additional cost. This requirement would not apply when assignment to an adjacent seat would require an upgrade to another cabin class or a seat with extra legroom or seat pitch for which additional payment is normally required.

The kicker was that the law allowed the DOT one year to come up with a recommendation ... in a bill that expired in one year. In other words, this is a paper tiger. There is no actual law that requires contiguous seating; it was a compromise provision added to the bill to get needed votes, with the full knowledge that the law would expire before a decision had to be made.

 

[kaytieeldr]

That article is from 2016. As others have posted above, the law has passed, but the FAA has not written up or implemented any regulation to enforce it yet.

Which is why I included the disclaimer:

Has not been passed, as far as I can tell

 

[MomOTwins]

Well, for starters, there is no need to accuse others of "living in a bubble" simply because their life experiences or opinions don't match yours.

And I agree: the easy way to prevent your child from sitting next to a strange man is to book with a carrier that will let you choose seats, and then choose a window for your child and a middle for you. Problem solved.

This is not a sure thing. Once on an international flight, I booked seats for my husband and our two then barely 3-year old sons, each one sitting next to a parent, and we even paid a huge amount for business class because we were so nervous about traveling internationally and were wanted everything to go smoothly. When we arrived at the gate, they said they had to change planes to one with fewer business rows, and since we we were in one of the rows that got "cut" they had to reassign us... with all four seats literally in different corners on the plane. I was in tears begging them to fix it, but they said there was nothing they could do (even though it was their fault in the first place) and I would have to take my chances persuading people to move. My children were unquestionably too young to be alone - they needed help cutting up their food, going to the bathroom, and would have been terrified out of sight of mom or dad for hours and hours. When we boarded and explained the situation that we had booked together and the airline changed our seats, nobody in our rows volunteered. I had to walk up and down asking every row for about twenty minutes until I finally found people who were willing to trade so we could have two sets of two seats together. I was so shocked that people were so unfeeling.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I have had really good luck with people offering to switch so that DD and I can sit together, even though she is a teenager. We've been separated a few times due to changing flights at the last minute (change of plans and delays). Each time, someone has offered without prompting to switch with one of us. It probably helps that we try to fly business class or Delta Comfort where it is more likely to have people traveling alone for work seated near us. We've never asked - and wouldn't - but have appreciated the offers.

This is not a sure thing. Once on an international flight, I booked seats for my husband and our two then barely 3-year old sons, each one sitting next to a parent, and we even paid a huge amount for business class because we were so nervous about traveling internationally and were wanted everything to go smoothly. When we arrived at the gate, they said they had to change planes to one with fewer business rows, and since we we were in one of the rows that got "cut" they had to reassign us... with all four seats literally in different corners on the plane. I was in tears begging them to fix it, but they said there was nothing they could do (even though it was their fault in the first place) and I would have to take my chances persuading people to move. My children were unquestionably too young to be alone - they needed help cutting up their food, going to the bathroom, and would have been terrified out of sight of mom or dad for hours and hours. When we boarded and explained the situation that we had booked together and the airline changed our seats, nobody in our rows volunteered. I had to walk up and down asking every row for about twenty minutes until I finally found people who were willing to trade so we could have two sets of two seats together. I was so shocked that people were so unfeeling.

I see how it would be harder on an international flight. Who would want to leave their travel companions to sit alone for a long flight in "undesirable" seats (because they weren't booked already)? IMO, the flight attendants could have tried to help by making an announcement looking for someone to switch.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I see how it would be harder on an international flight. Who would want to leave their travel companions to sit alone for a long flight in "undesirable" seats (because they weren't booked already)? IMO, the flight attendants could have tried to help by making an announcement looking for someone to switch.

When we flew Delta for our honeymoon to St Lucia everyone and their mom (well you know how the saying goes) was also on their honeymoon. When we had booked our flight several months in advance there were no seats together. We did however get aisle seats just him in front of me. When we got on our flight we did ask the people right around but no one wanted to switch and we absolutely understood why. It was no biggie to us. That's the only time we've ever asked someone if they would be willing to move.

I don't think the FAs needed to intervene in my case. It was what it was.

 

[Aliceacc]

This is not a sure thing. Once on an international flight, I booked seats for my husband and our two then barely 3-year old sons, each one sitting next to a parent, and we even paid a huge amount for business class because we were so nervous about traveling internationally and were wanted everything to go smoothly. When we arrived at the gate, they said they had to change planes to one with fewer business rows, and since we we were in one of the rows that got "cut" they had to reassign us... with all four seats literally in different corners on the plane. I was in tears begging them to fix it, but they said there was nothing they could do (even though it was their fault in the first place) and I would have to take my chances persuading people to move. My children were unquestionably too young to be alone - they needed help cutting up their food, going to the bathroom, and would have been terrified out of sight of mom or dad for hours and hours. When we boarded and explained the situation that we had booked together and the airline changed our seats, nobody in our rows volunteered. I had to walk up and down asking every row for about twenty minutes until I finally found people who were willing to trade so we could have two sets of two seats together. I was so shocked that people were so unfeeling.

There's no such thing as a sure thing. Flights can be cancelled, snowstorms happen, people get too sick to fly.

But the vast majority of the time you get the seat you pay for.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I remember volunteering to move once for worse seats - it was after Katrina and a family got on the plane with nothing (Southwest flight). Cannot remember what city we were in but they had evacuated and were heading to Chicago. They were the last ones on the plane and only random middle seats were left.
But if you are snotty, entitled? Nope I am not moving. But nice people you can ask and I might do it. There is no reason I need to sit with DH. I see him all the time. We sometimes sit separately anyway - if I get the upgrade I am taking it and leaving him in coach!

 

[MomOTwins]

There's no such thing as a sure thing. Flights can be cancelled, snowstorms happen, people get too sick to fly.

But the vast majority of the time you get the seat you pay for.

I guess I just don’t see what the weather has to do with anything. I paid a lot to be seated with my kids, and the airline messed it up. Therefore it is not true when people here say parents are to blame when they get separated from their kids and they could easily avoid it by paying more. Given how often airlines mess things up, in my experience, I would not assume that a separated family is at fault, nor that the airline would try to help the family if it was the airline’s fault, as others have said.

I actually prefer southwest now since I know that assigned seats on other airlines cannot be guaranteed, but if I am early enough in the priority on southwest, I can always get seats together because I know there are more rows on the plan than there are boarding positions in front of me.

 

[Cubbiecakes]

Gah, messed up quoting...

 

[Cubbiecakes]

I remember volunteering to move once for worse seats - it was after Katrina and a family got on the plane with nothing (Southwest flight). Cannot remember what city we were in but they had evacuated and were heading to Chicago. They were the last ones on the plane and only random middle seats were left.
But if you are snotty, entitled? Nope I am not moving. But nice people you can ask and I might do it. There is no reason I need to sit with DH. I see him all the time. We sometimes sit separately anyway - if I get the upgrade I am taking it and leaving him in coach!

So you're saying your kindness comes with conditions. Got it!

 

[DizneyMommy]

I guess I just don’t see what the weather has to do with anything. I paid a lot to be seated with my kids, and the airline messed it up. Therefore it is not true when people here say parents are to blame when they get separated from their kids and they could easily avoid it by paying more. Given how often airlines mess things up, in my experience, I would not assume that a separated family is at fault, nor that the airline would try to help the family if it was the airline’s fault, as others have said.

Thank you! This is exactly what I was trying to say. Stuff happens. I would have been so stressed in that situation, I’m sorry that more people weren’t willing to be helpful! :-(

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I guess I just don’t see what the weather has to do with anything. I paid a lot to be seated with my kids, and the airline messed it up. Therefore it is not true when people here say parents are to blame when they get separated from their kids and they could easily avoid it by paying more. Given how often airlines mess things up, in my experience, I would not assume that a separated family is at fault, nor that the airline would try to help the family if it was the airline’s fault, as others have said.

I actually prefer southwest now since I know that assigned seats on other airlines cannot be guaranteed, but if I am early enough in the priority on southwest, I can always get seats together because I know there are more rows on the plan than there are boarding positions in front of me.

What you should have gotten was a partial refund for paying for business class but not being able to sit in it but weather has a lot to do with flying in general.

You weren't at fault for your seats being switched but neither was the airline. I'm sorry if you can't see past the actual incident but switching planes happens. It happened to us when we were flying to Hawaii in 2016 on Delta (it was a few weeks in advanced that they notified us) and they moved our seats. It's not the passengers fault either if they don't want to move. It's just a raw deal. Sometimes, yes really sometimes, there just isn't blame and with flying there comes risks such as delayed, cancellation, mechanical issues, overbooking, planes swapping, etc. It's part of the risk with flying.

I have no idea if there was another flight but if there was that was a possible option to look into at the gate. Would it have been ideal? Nope but it may have been an option.

Look at it this way..someone had to be bumped to another seat. It just was unlucky it was your traveling party.

 

[DizneyMommy]

What you should have gotten was a partial refund for paying for business class but not being able to sit in it but weather has a lot to do with flying in general.

You weren't at fault for your seats being switched but neither was the airline. I'm sorry if you can't see past the actual incident but switching planes happens. It happened to us when we were flying to Hawaii in 2016 on Delta (it was a few weeks in advanced that they notified us) and they moved our seats. It's not the passengers fault either if they don't want to move. It's just a raw deal. Sometimes, yes really sometimes, there just isn't blame and with flying there comes risks such as delayed, cancellation, mechanical issues, overbooking, planes swapping, etc. It's part of the risk with flying.

I have no idea if there was another flight but if there was that was a possible option to look into at the gate. Would it have been ideal? Nope but it may have been an option.

Look at it this way..someone had to be bumped to another seat. It just was unlucky it was your traveling party.

I cannot believe how many people here just say tough luck. Do any of you saying that actually have kids?

Her kids are 3. THREE years old. They cannot sit alone. You would not want them to sit alone, they would probably be terrified and cry half the time. Especially on an international flight. It is the airline’s responsibility. They got a different plane that could not accommodate the original bookings. The airline chose to change the plane. How on EARTH can you say, well too bad your 3 year olds should have to sit alone with no adult and the airline has no responsibility to fix that mistake? Because that’s what it is, their mistake. They can see the ages of those passengers when they bump them, they should have fixed it immediately.

And I’m sorry but a whole flight full of people for 20 minutes refused to help this poor mom? That is sad. Really sad.

 

[sam_gordon]

A number of years ago we were heading to Mexico for a family vacation. We had a connection in Atlanta. All our seats were picked out and we were sitting together. Our originating flight had a mechanical issue and ended up leaving over an hour late. Of course, we missed our connection in Atlanta. Delta automatically rebooked us, but didn't assign us seats. We went to the gate agent for the new flight asking for two seats together (we were a party of 5, and our youngest was 6 at that time). They put four of us into one row and a single (me) in the row just in front.

So yes, airlines will work with you. Of course, I wasn't demanding, and only asking for two seats together.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I cannot believe how many people here just say tough luck. Do any of you saying that actually have kids?

Her kids are 3. THREE years old. They cannot sit alone. You would not want them to sit alone, they would probably be terrified and cry half the time. Especially on an international flight. It is the airline’s responsibility. They got a different plane that could not accommodate the original bookings. The airline chose to change the plane. How on EARTH can you say, well too bad your 3 year olds should have to sit alone with no adult and the airline has no responsibility to fix that mistake? Because that’s what it is, their mistake. They can see the ages of those passengers when they bump them, they should have fixed it immediately.

And I’m sorry but a whole flight full of people for 20 minutes refused to help this poor mom? That is sad. Really sad.

You don't have to like my opinion it's fine.

Chances are the PP wouldn't even know any of the details of the other 4 traveling party if they had been the one moved instead of them..but you never know what their story/situation would have been...well we already know where you stand on grace and compassion.

BTW saying things like terrified, crying half the time.. *sigh*

And sorry I don't think it's a mistake on the airline to switch planes. What mistake was it? That they likely randomly (or selected the last row of Business Class from the original plane) and it just happened to be the PP who had children? It could have someone else. Is there no thought to how another traveling party would have felt? I guess not since you framed your comments so much on 'poor mom and her kids' It's just raw unluckiness that it was the PP. Does it suck that they were so young? Of course it does. It's part of the unluckiness. The alternative that I suppose you're thinking is to have the FAs force someone else to give up their seat.

ETA: FWIW I used to fly standby a lot because my stepmom was a travel agent. It happened where we were separated on the plane (one of the ones I remember I was 11) and there was a time too where my step mom and I flew on one flight and my dad and my sister flew on a flight about an hour after ours had left.