[mattficke]

There was an interesting article on United’s new family seating policy, allows families traveling with children under 12 to sit together automatically with no added fees by default. Sounded like a decent way of identifying when sitting together actually would be optional for most people. https://viewfromthewing.com/uniteds-new-family-seating-polic...

[bradleyjg]

I’m fine with this solution, families can use a break in modern America. But if airlines had said from the beginning that bookings with a child under 12 are not eligible for basic economy, it’d hard to see what’s unfair about that.

[mattficke]

The airlines aren’t doing this out of kindness, the Department of Transportation is basically telling them they have to. Officially they’re “encouraging” the airlines to seat families together at no charge, but that’s regulator speak for “do it voluntarily or else we’ll make you”. https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer...