Senator to FAA: Stop charging parents to change seats to sit with their children

It's no secret that airlines have more fees than Kim Kardashian has facial expressions, but one U.S. Senator is trying to get the airlines to back off one particular set of charges. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has written a letter to Michael Huerta, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, urging him to drop any seat change fees for parents who are trying to sit beside their young children.

Casey said that he was prompted to write the letter after hearing about Frank Strong, a North Carolina dad who had to pay $88 (on top of his $1200 airfare and $25 checked baggage fees) so he could get a seat beside his 4-year-old daughter. Adjacent seats were available on Strong's flight and – Casey says – when that is the case, the airlines should accommodate parents and their children without forcing them to pull out their wallets.

In his letter, Casey wrote: 

While I understand the [sic] reassigning passengers may be inconvenient, it is surely no reason to separate a child, especially a young child, from his or her parents.  Making those with children pay an extra fee to sit next to their children puts a burden on parents and guardians and disadvantages middle class families that may struggle just to afford the basic fare and for whom an additional fee would be a significant hardship.

Casey wants Huerta to encourage reservations agents to do what they can to put families together (or, I'm guessing, at least put one parent with the child) without question. He signed off, " I look forward to working with you to improve air travel for families." So far, Huerta has yet to respond, so parents, keep those wallets in an easy-to-access external pocket.