Airlines update, highlight their family seating policies amid White House push

As the Biden administration pledges to crack down on airlines charging families to sit together, many carriers are updating their policies to make it easier for guardians to sit with their kids.

United Airlines announced tech upgrades on Monday that would automatically assign families adjacent seats, as well as a new more flexible policy to allow families that were separated to change flights.

Frontier Airlines followed suit on Tuesday, saying it was changing how it assigned seats to help families stick together.

Other airlines, including Breeze and Southwest, have highlighted existing policies and practices that were in place to ensure kids weren't sitting alone.

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Frontier Airlines' new policy for families sitting together

Frontier has been working to update how it assigns seats to families with kids under the age of 14, to ensure that young travelers are always sitting with at least one parent.

"We recognize the importance of seating children next to an adult with whom they are traveling," Daniel Shurz, senior vice president, commercial at Frontier Airlines said in a statement. "Since last October, we have been doubling down on our efforts and further enhancing our system for ensuring a parent is seated with any children under the age of 14 in their family group."

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According to Frontier, the airline's seating system automatically assigns adjacent seats for children and at least one guardian in their group at no extra charge.

The airline typically charges for seat selection, but families have the option of paying to sit together without relying on the free automatic assignments.

Members of Frontier's Discount Den can also take advantage of "kids fly free" promotions on certain flights when they are traveling with someone 14 years old or younger.

What Breeze and Southwest were already doing

Breeze Airways pointed out that it has always allowed families to sit together for free.

Although the airline typically charges for seat assignments on its cheapest tickets, the fee is waived for family seat selection.

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Southwest Airlines, famous for its open seating, board-by-number policy, allows families with children six years old or younger to board early, after the A group. That increases their chances of being able to sit together onboard, according to the airline.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Frontier Airlines and others push family seating policies