Airlines Sue Transportation Department Over ‘Junk Fee’ Ban

The U.S. Transportation Department will “vigorously defend” its newly enacted rule against what it calls airlines’ “hidden junk fees.” Last Friday, Airlines for America (A4A), along with American, Delta, United and three other carriers, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Transportation Department in federal appeals court. The suit, filed with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, claims the administration is exceeding its authority by trying to “regulate private business operations in a thriving marketplace.”

The new rule, announced on April 24, would mandate that airlines and travel agents must disclose charges for baggage or canceling or changing a reservation up front, showing the fees on the first page of the airlines’ websites where passengers would go for a price quote on a flight. Transportation Department officials estimate the new rule will save airline passengers more than $500 million annually. Among the nation’s top six airlines, only Southwest chose not to participate in filing the suit.

A4A said Monday (May13), “The ancillary fee rule by the Department of Transportation will greatly confuse consumers who will be inundated with information that will only serve to complicate the buying process.”

On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg fired back on social media, “We just issued a rule requiring airlines to inform you, before you buy a ticket, of fees they will charge you. Now the airline lobby is suing us, saying that if you have the right to that information it will ‘confuse’ you. For once, I am speechless.”