I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3334 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations with respect 

to ensuring families are able to sit together on flights, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Mr. NADLER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations 

with respect to ensuring families are able to sit together 

on flights, 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 ‘‘Families Flying To5 gether Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Airlines need to prioritize seating families 

9 traveling with small children together. 


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1 (2) The Department of Transportation con2 tinues to receive ‘‘unsatisfactory seat assignment’’ 

3 complaints from parents whose seat assignments 

4 were separate from their small children. 

5 SEC. 3. SEATING FAMILIES TOGETHER ON FLIGHTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor8 tation shall issue regulations directing each air carrier 

9 to— 

10 (1) establish a policy to ensure, to the extent 

11 practicable, that a family that purchases tickets for 

12 a flight with that air carrier is seated together dur13 ing that flight; and 

14 (2) make the policy described in paragraph (1) 

15 available to the public on an appropriate Internet 

16 Web site of the air carrier. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi18 nitions apply: 

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

20 the meaning given that term in section 40102(a) of 

21 title 49, United States Code. 

22 (2) FAMILY.—The term ‘‘family’’ means a 

23 grouping of individuals that includes, at a min24 imum— 


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1 (A) a child who is 12 years of age or 

2 younger; and 

3 (B) an individual who is— 

4 (i) 18 years of age or older; and 

5 (ii) responsible for accompanying that 

6 child, including a parent or legal guardian 

7 of that child. 

8 SEC. 4. FAMILIES TRAVELING TOGETHER. 

9 Section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(d) FAMILIES TRAVELING TOGETHER.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an unfair or de13 ceptive practice under subsection (a) for any ticket 

14 agent, air carrier, foreign air carrier, or other person 

15 offering to sell tickets for air transportation to fail 

16 to disclose, whether verbally in oral communication 

17 or in writing in written or electronic communication, 

18 prior to an individual’s purchase of more than one 

19 ticket for a covered flight, the notification in para20 graph (2), if such purchase includes a ticket for a 

21 minor. 

22 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—The notification required 

23 under paragraph (1) shall include the following 

24 statement: ‘It is not possible to assign 2 or more 

25 seats together on at least 1 of the flights you have 


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1 selected. Please be advised that you may not be able 

2 to sit next to other members of your travel party, 

3 even if you are traveling with a minor.’. 

4 ‘‘(3) COVERED FLIGHT.—For purposes of this 

5 section, a ‘covered flight’ is a flight of an air carrier 

6 or foreign air carrier in air transportation or foreign 

7 air transportation as to which— 

8 ‘‘(A) a purchaser of a ticket may specify 

9 an advance seat assignment, with or without 

10 the assessment of any charge or fee; and 

11 ‘‘(B) 2 or more laterally adjacent seats are 

12 not available on the flight for advance assign13 ment.’’. 

Æ 


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