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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forbid Airlines from 
Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘FAIR 
Fees Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REGULATIONS PROHIBITING THE IMPOSITION OF 
FEES THAT ARE NOT REASONABLE AND PRO-
PORTIONAL TO THE COSTS INCURRED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans-
portation shall prescribe regulations— 
(1) prohibiting an air carrier from imposing 
fees described in subsection (b) that are unreason-
able or disproportional to the costs incurred by the 
air carrier; and 
(2) establishing standards for assessing whether 
such fees are reasonable and proportional to the 
costs incurred by the air carrier. 
(b) FEES DESCRIBED.—The fees described in this 
subsection are— 
(1) any fee for a change or cancellation of a 
reservation for a flight in interstate air transpor-
tation; 
(2) any fee relating to checked baggage to be 
transported on a flight in interstate air transpor-
tation; and 
(3) any other fee imposed by an air carrier re-
lating to a flight in interstate air transportation. 
(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the standards 
required by subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall con-
sider— 
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(1) with respect to a fee described in subsection 
(b)(1) imposed by an air carrier for a change or can-
cellation of a flight reservation— 
(A) any net benefit or cost to the air car-
rier from the change or cancellation, taking into 
consideration— 
(i) the ability of the air carrier to an-
ticipate the expected average number of 
cancellations and changes and make res-
ervations accordingly; 
(ii) the ability of the air carrier to fill 
a seat made available by a change or can-
cellation; 
(iii) any difference in the fare likely to 
be paid for a ticket sold to another pas-
senger for a seat made available by the 
change or cancellation, as compared to the 
fare paid by the passenger who changed or 
canceled the passenger’s reservation; and 
(iv) the likelihood that the passenger 
changing or canceling the passenger’s res-
ervation will fill a seat on another flight by 
the same air carrier; 
(B) the costs of processing the change or 
cancellation electronically; and 
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(C) any related labor costs; 
(2) with respect to a fee described in subsection 
(b)(2) imposed by an air carrier relating to checked 
baggage— 
(A) the costs of processing checked bag-
gage electronically; and 
(B) any related labor costs; and 
(3) any other considerations the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
(d) UPDATED REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 
update the standards required by subsection (a)(2) not 
less frequently than every 3 years. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) AIR
CARRIER.—The term ‘‘air carrier’’ 
means any air carrier that holds an air carrier cer-
tificate under section 41101 of title 49, United 
States Code. 
(2) INTERSTATE
AIR
TRANSPORTATION.—The 
term ‘‘interstate air transportation’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 40102 of title 49, 
United States Code. 
Æ 
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