Originally Posted by
PTravel
I've always said that parents should be seated near their children, but it was up to the airline to ensure that happened, not other pax. I'm hoping this law will cut done on seat-poaching and whining swap demands by parents by shifting the burden to the airline. I'm also looking forward to the airline telling a parent, "I'm sorry, we have no adjacent seats left on the flight you want to book," and preventing the parent from booking singles in an attempt to get around it.
As I understand the way the legislation is written, the airline won't be able to charge extra for a parent to sit with the child, so long as it's within the same class. So, for example, if the only seats available in coach (3x3 configuration) are 15B, 15C, and 19B, and 15C is a "preferred" seat for which the airline wants a $30 fee, a passenger traveling with a child will be able to get 15B and 15C without having to pay the $30 fee.