Federal

FAIR Fees Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 967 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill stops airlines from charging fees that don't match what the fees actually cost the airline to provide. The bill requires the Transportation Secretary to create rules that set fair standards for airline fees. Airlines would need to make sure their fees are reasonable and directly connected to their actual costs. ##

Who It Affects

- Airline companies that carry passengers - People who fly on commercial airlines - The U.S. Department of Transportation ##

Key Provisions

- The Transportation Secretary must create regulations within 270 days that prohibit airlines from imposing unreasonable fees and establish standards to judge whether fees are fair and proportional to actual costs (Sec. 2(a)) - The rules apply to fees for changing or canceling flight reservations, checked or carry-on baggage, seat selection, and any other fees airlines charge for passenger flights (Sec. 2(b)) - Children age 13 or younger must be able to sit with their traveling adult at no extra charge to anyone on the flight (Sec. 2(c)(3)) - The Transportation Secretary must review and update these fairness standards at least every 3 years (Sec. 2(d)) ##

What Changes

Airlines would no longer be able to charge fees that are larger than the actual costs they incur. Airlines must document the real costs behind each type of fee they charge passengers. ##

Important Definitions

- **Air carrier**: Any airline that holds an official certificate to operate under federal law - **Passenger air transportation**: When an airline carries paying passengers by aircraft on flights between different states or countries ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 209 To prohibit air carriers from imposing fees that are not reasonable and proportional to the costs incurred by the air carriers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 1, 2023 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To prohibit air carriers from imposing fees that are not reasonable and proportional to the costs incurred by the air carriers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forbidding Airlines 4 from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2023’’ or the 5 ‘‘FAIR Fees Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Feb 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S209.IS S209 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 209 IS SEC. 2. REGULATIONS PROHIBITING THE IMPOSITION OF 1 FEES THAT ARE NOT REASONABLE AND PRO- 2 PORTIONAL TO THE COSTS INCURRED. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans- 5 portation shall prescribe regulations— 6 (1) prohibiting an air carrier from imposing 7 fees described in subsection (b) that are unreason- 8 able or disproportional to the costs incurred by the 9 air carrier; and 10 (2) establishing standards for assessing whether 11 such fees are reasonable and proportional to the 12 costs incurred by the air carrier. 13 (b) FEES DESCRIBED.—The fees described in this 14 subsection are— 15 (1) any fee for a change or cancellation of a 16 reservation for a flight in passenger air transpor- 17 tation; 18 (2) any fee relating to checked or carry-on bag- 19 gage to be transported on a flight in passenger air 20 transportation; 21 (3) any fee relating to the choice or assignment 22 of seats on a flight in passenger air transportation; 23 and 24 (4) any other fee imposed by an air carrier re- 25 lating to a flight in passenger air transportation. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Feb 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S209.IS S209 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 209 IS (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the standards 1 required by subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall con- 2 sider— 3 (1) with respect to a fee described in subsection 4 (b)(1) imposed by an air carrier for a change or can- 5 cellation of a flight reservation— 6 (A) any net benefit or cost to the air car- 7 rier from the change or cancellation, taking into 8 consideration— 9 (i) the ability of the air carrier to an- 10 ticipate the expected average number of 11 cancellations and changes and make res- 12 ervations accordingly; 13 (ii) the ability of the air carrier to fill 14 a seat made available by a change or can- 15 cellation; 16 (iii) any difference in the fare likely to 17 be paid for a ticket sold to another pas- 18 senger for a seat made available by the 19 change or cancellation, as compared to the 20 fare that was paid for the seat for which 21 the reservation was changed or canceled; 22 and 23 (iv) the likelihood that the passenger 24 changing or canceling the reservation will, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Feb 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S209.IS S209 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 209 IS as a result, fill a seat on another flight by 1 the same air carrier; 2 (B) the costs of processing the change or 3 cancellation electronically; and 4 (C) any related labor costs; 5 (2) with respect to a fee described in subsection 6 (b)(2) imposed by an air carrier relating to checked 7 baggage— 8 (A) the costs of processing checked bag- 9 gage electronically; and 10 (B) any related labor costs; 11 (3) with respect to a fee described in subsection 12 (b)(3) imposed by an air carrier relating to the 13 choice or assignment of seats on a flight in pas- 14 senger air transportation, ensuring that passengers 15 traveling with children age 13 or younger are able 16 to be seated with those children at no additional 17 charge to the passengers traveling with such chil- 18 dren or to any other passenger traveling on the 19 flight involved; and 20 (4) any other considerations the Secretary con- 21 siders appropriate. 22 (d) UPDATED REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 23 update the standards required by subsection (a)(2) not 24 less frequently than every 3 years. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Feb 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S209.IS S209 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 209 IS (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 (1) AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘air carrier’’ 2 means any air carrier that holds an air carrier cer- 3 tificate under section 41101 of title 49, United 4 States Code. 5 (2) PASSENGER AIR TRANSPORTATION.—The 6 term ‘‘passenger air transportation’’ means, with re- 7 spect to the transportation of passengers by aircraft 8 as a common carrier for compensation, foreign air 9 transportation, interstate air transportation, and 10 intrastate air transportation, as such terms are de- 11 fined in section 40102 of title 49, United States 12 Code. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Feb 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S209.IS S209 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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