The U.S. Department of Transportation is considering a rule that would make it easier for consumers to see the true cost of flying—airfare, plus any fees—when booking trips.

The goal is to provide customers with “the information they need to choose the best deal,” DOT said in its news release. “Otherwise, surprise fees can add up quickly and overcome what may look at first to be a cheap fare.”

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“Seating toddlers and young children by themselves is a safety threat during emergency evacuations, a health threat during COVID, and a criminal threat due to an FBI report that inflight sexual assaults have been rising,” said Bill McGee, a senior fellow at the nonprofit American Economic Liberties Project.

McGee told Checkbook he had high hopes that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg would recognize “the seriousness of this issue, and direct U.S. airlines to stop charging fees for families with kids under 13 to sit together, just as Congress directed in 2016.” But the proposed rule would only require airlines to be make such fees “more visible.”

The “correct response” would be to eliminate such fees, McGee told Checkbook. And he hopes travelers will urge Secretary Buttigieg and the DOT to “do the right thing at last.”

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