I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5195 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2019 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

TAKANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RUSH, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. 

TLAIB, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MOORE, and Mr. GRIJALVA) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forbid Airlines from 

5 Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘FAIR 

6 Fees Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5195 IH

1 SEC. 2. REGULATIONS PROHIBITING THE IMPOSITION OF 

2 FEES THAT ARE NOT REASONABLE AND PRO3 PORTIONAL TO THE COSTS INCURRED. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans6 portation shall prescribe regulations— 

7 (1) prohibiting an air carrier from imposing 

8 fees described in subsection (b) that are unreason9 able or disproportional to the costs incurred by the 

10 air carrier; and 

11 (2) establishing standards for assessing whether 

12 such fees are reasonable and proportional to the 

13 costs incurred by the air carrier. 

14 (b) FEES DESCRIBED.—The fees described in this 

15 subsection are— 

16 (1) any fee for a change or cancellation of a 

17 reservation for a flight in interstate air transpor18 tation; 

19 (2) any fee relating to checked baggage to be 

20 transported on a flight in interstate air transpor21 tation; and 

22 (3) any other fee imposed by an air carrier re23 lating to a flight in interstate air transportation. 

24 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the standards 

25 required by subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall con26 sider— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5195 IH

1 (1) with respect to a fee described in subsection 

2 (b)(1) imposed by an air carrier for a change or can3 cellation of a flight reservation— 

4 (A) any net benefit or cost to the air car5 rier from the change or cancellation, taking into 

6 consideration— 

7 (i) the ability of the air carrier to an8 ticipate the expected average number of 

9 cancellations and changes and make res10 ervations accordingly; 

11 (ii) the ability of the air carrier to fill 

12 a seat made available by a change or can13 cellation; 

14 (iii) any difference in the fare likely to 

15 be paid for a ticket sold to another pas16 senger for a seat made available by the 

17 change or cancellation, as compared to the 

18 fare paid by the passenger who changed or 

19 canceled the passenger’s reservation; and 

20 (iv) the likelihood that the passenger 

21 changing or canceling the passenger’s res22 ervation will fill a seat on another flight by 

23 the same air carrier; 

24 (B) the costs of processing the change or 

25 cancellation electronically; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5195 IH

1 (C) any related labor costs; 

2 (2) with respect to a fee described in subsection 

3 (b)(2) imposed by an air carrier relating to checked 

4 baggage— 

5 (A) the costs of processing checked bag6 gage electronically; and 

7 (B) any related labor costs; and 

8 (3) any other considerations the Secretary con9 siders appropriate. 

10 (d) UPDATED REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

11 update the standards required by subsection (a)(2) not 

12 less frequently than every 3 years. 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘air carrier’’ 

15 means any air carrier that holds an air carrier cer16 tificate under section 41101 of title 49, United 

17 States Code. 

18 (2) INTERSTATE AIR TRANSPORTATION.—The 

19 term ‘‘interstate air transportation’’ has the mean20 ing given that term in section 40102 of title 49, 

21 United States Code. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS