Senator Charles Schumer (D), New York, is making strides in his mission to allow families to sit together on airplanes free of extra charges.
Schumer recently called on the airline industry to avoid charging families the extra fees that come with aisle and window seats if they want to sit together.
On Sunday, June 10, the New York Democrat announced that JetBlue and Virgin America have agreed to the plan.
“I'm happy to announce that we've made some progress. I'm pleased to announce that after reaching out to the CEOs of both JetBlue and Virgin America, they've committed to me that they will not charge families extra fees to sit together on airplanes," said Sen. Schumer.
"This is good news because as we all know what generally happens with airline fees is when one or two carriers say they're going to do it, the others wait and see how it goes and then they follow suit"
"Well, hopefully we've begun to plug the dam on these outrageous charges. Hopefully the three airlines that have instituted this policy will now reconsider, both because it's not going to be universal, and because lots of families will choose to use an airline that doesn't charge extra when your family wants to sit together,” said Sen. Schumer.
Schumer has also asked the Department of Transportation to require airlines to be more open with their price quotes, allowing consumers to see the true price of a ticket including extra seating fees before purchase.
