The airline's new seat technology will make it easier for families to sit together

Airline customers throughout the United States have been complaining about seating issues when traveling with young children. Previously there has been an inability for families to choose seats when flying basic economy and it has been reported that kids as young as 1 year old have been seated apart from the adult travelers accompanying them with airlines charging additional fees to allow these families to sit next to each other. All that is now changing as United recently announced a new family seating policy that will allow children to sit next to their accompanying adults without charge on basic economy tickets.

This move comes after the Department of Transportation called on airlines to make this change in July. President Biden even spoke on this issue in his State of the Union Address and proposed a Junk Fee Prevention Act that would also target fees charged in other industries as well.

“Under intense scrutiny, United has now publicly acknowledged that family seating fees are a problem – something many other U.S. carriers deny. But the devil is in the details, and while United’s voluntary actions may prove helpful, they are not a replacement for government regulation,” William McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project, said in a statement.

This new seat map technology will now find adjacent seats for families with children under 12 at initial booking, making preferred seating available if needed at no additional charge. When side by side seats are not available, travelers can choose another flight to their destination which has adjacent seating at no additional charge.

This is not a new issue. Federal law has required the airlines to seat children next to family members without additional charges since 2016 but enforcing this has been an problem as airlines have repeatedly dodged these requirements for years. 

“As a father of seven, I understand this and have sat away from our kids on many flights,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a recent interview. “We believe this will take a lot of stress out of the up-front process where you book a ticket—you know you’ll have a seat instead of having to wait to get to the airport and cross your fingers to hope you get a seat.”

This move makes United the first major carrier to make changes to its family seating policy.