I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 659 
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 
JANUARY 31, 2023 
Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. THOMPSON 
of Mississippi, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) 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 ‘‘Forbidding Airlines 
from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2023’’ or the 
‘‘FAIR Fees Act of 2023’’. 
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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 passenger air transpor-
tation; 
(2) any fee relating to checked or carry-on bag-
gage to be transported on a flight in passenger air 
transportation; 
(3) any fee relating to the choice or assignment 
of seats on a flight in passenger air transportation; 
and 
(4) any other fee imposed by an air carrier re-
lating to a flight in passenger air transportation. 
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(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the standards 
required by subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall con-
sider— 
(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 that was paid for the seat for which 
the reservation was changed or canceled; 
and 
(iv) the likelihood that the passenger 
changing or canceling the reservation will, 
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as a result, fill a seat on another flight by 
the same air carrier; 
(B) the costs of processing the change or 
cancellation electronically; and 
(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; 
(3) with respect to a fee described in subsection 
(b)(3) imposed by an air carrier relating to the 
choice or assignment of seats on a flight in pas-
senger air transportation, ensuring that passengers 
traveling with children age 13 or younger are able 
to be seated with those children at no additional 
charge to the passengers traveling with such chil-
dren or to any other passenger traveling on the 
flight involved; and 
(4) 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. 
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(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) PASSENGER
AIR
TRANSPORTATION.—The 
term ‘‘passenger air transportation’’ means, with re-
spect to the transportation of passengers by aircraft 
as a common carrier for compensation, foreign air 
transportation, interstate air transportation, and 
intrastate air transportation, as such terms are de-
fined in section 40102 of title 49, United States 
Code. 
Æ 
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