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European Parliament probes flight seating policies after Spanish complaint
Europe is considering the fairness of charging families extra to sit together on flights
The Petitions Committee of the European Parliament has agreed to examine a complaint filed by a Spanish citizen against airlines' random seat allocation policies and the additional costs charged to families and groups of friends who wish to sit together.
The complainant, Alfonso Rodríguez Sánchez, representing the Facua consumer organisation in the Balearic Islands, alleges that airlines are profiting unfairly from this practice, which started as a hallmark of low-cost carriers but has since become widespread.
He claims that families are forced to pay an extra 20-40 euros per passenger to ensure they are sitting next to each other and argues that the revenue generated from this practice and charges for hand luggage has now become one of the main sources of income for many airlines.
This isn’t exactly a new issue. Customers have been complaining for years about the policies of budget airlines regarding seemingly simple matters of seating and carry-on luggage and last year, the Subdirectorate General of Inspection and Sanctioning Procedure of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in Spain launched an investigation into seven low-cost airlines operating in the country for alleged irregularities in their hand luggage policy and seat allocation.
According to European legislation, only children under 12 years old are required by law to sit beside their accompanying adults or, if this isn’t possible, they must be seated in the same row.
"There have been problems with passengers who have had to leave their 13 or 14 year old children alone, the flight crew has had to endure their anger and this can even affect the safety of the flight: Imagine that a person with a psychological problem, that he could have an anxiety attack and that he is not with his companion," Mr Rodríguez Sánchez expanded in his complaint.
While the Petitions Committee is studying the complaint, it would ultimately be down to the European Commission to force a change in policy, but his might be closer than we think given a spokesperson’s reaction to issue this week.
"You are right, these types of policies used to fragment prices have become more common, they are adding a charge for each part of the service, whether it is seat assignment, luggage, food or drink…,” an EC representative said to the complainant.
“I imagine that they will soon ask for a payment to be able to smile," she added wryly.
Image: Pixabay
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