Biden administration brings Congress into its pressure campaign against airline fees

The Biden administration on Monday moved the ball forward in its passion for banning so-called "junk fees" — this time among airlines.

In a new letter to Congress, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg proposed a bill that would forbid airlines from charging an accompanying adult extra to sit next to a child aged 13 or younger under certain conditions.

And while the bill’s prospects on a divided Capitol Hill are mixed at best, Monday’s message comes as the Biden administration says its strategy of pressuring companies directly is yielding results.

Case in point: A new government dashboard unveiled last week to track airline commitments to fee-free family seating appears to be persuasive to at least some companies.

"As recently as a month ago, no U.S. airlines guaranteed fee-free family seating. Now, after weeks of USDOT and the Biden Administration pressing airlines to improve their customer service, American Airlines (AAL), Alaska Airlines (ALK), and Frontier Airlines (ULCC) have stepped forward to guarantee that parents can sit with their young children without getting nickel and dimed," the department said in a press statement.

The pressure campaign has been joined by campaigns from outside groups as well. The group Patriotic Millionaires has been involved and noted in a recent blast that “these moves aren’t being made for altruistic reasons, they’re being made because public pressure works.”

Still, as of Monday, the government dashboard still showed Allegiant (ALGT), Delta (DAL), Hawaiian (HA), JetBlue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV), Spirit (SAVE) and United (UAL) all lacking on the family seating front.

‘It can cost hundreds of dollars a month’

During his State of the Union address last month, the president called out the practice of airlines charging families a fee to sit together saying, "airlines can’t treat your child like a piece of baggage."

A top Biden official reflected on the efforts during a recent Yahoo Finance Live interview. National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti called the public pressure campaign “just one other tool that we have in our toolkit here, the bully pulpit, pushing corporations to eliminate these junk fees.”

But other sectors that impose fees that have gained the Biden administration's ire — from landlords to banks — may be more resistant to bully pulpit pressure, with efforts there yet to yield clear results.

The Biden administration has embarked on unilateral rule-making changes on many of these fronts, but administration officials acknowledge that the process can take years and it would be faster for Congress to act.

The Biden administration is also pushing a broader bill called the Junk Fee Prevention Act that would tackle four types of fees at once: those around live concerts and sporting events; cable TV and internet services; resort and destination fees; as well as the airline family fees.

During his recent interview, Ramamurti noted that the various fees people pay — from traveling to rental fees — “can cost hundreds of dollars a month to your typical family.”

Last week, the White House also convened a virtual gathering of state legislators to prod for state-level action on the issue as part of what it describes as “a government-wide effort to give families more breathing room.”

Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

Click here for politics news related to business and money

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube