JetBlue’s New Family Seating Guarantees Kids Under 13 Sit with Adults

JetBlue is now guaranteeing that children aged 13 years and younger will sit next to at least one adult traveling with them to the same destination.

According to JetBlue, its new process will proactively identify reservations with children and adults traveling together without prior seating assignments. The airline will then make sure that a traveling child aged 13 and under will be assigned a seat next to at least one adult when seats are available as long as all family members are on the same reservation and the plane’s seat layout allows for adjacent seats depending on the makeup of the reservation.

For Mint, the guarantee would apply only if Mint tickets were purchased for the entire party and adjacent Mint seats were available at the time of booking.

The new policy will apply to all JetBlue reservations, even its basic economy offering, which is called Blue Basic fare. The guarantee also includes reservations made within 24 hours of planned travel—JetBlue says that a crewmember at the airport will have to assist families manually in those cases. 

“We know traveling with young children can add challenges, and we want to do everything we can to put parents and families at ease by providing a smooth trip each time they choose JetBlue,” said Joanna Geraghty, President and COO, of JetBlue.

“This enhanced family seating policy reflects our commitment to continue to meet the needs of our customers and provide exceptional service.”

JetBlue is far from the first airline to adopt this kind of policy—American Airlines, Frontier, and Alaska Airlines all offer a similar guarantee. Others, including United Airlines, offer a seat map for families to use when booking, while others like Delta Air Lines block off certain rows in the main cabins for groups of three or more people.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled a brand-new online dashboard that will help travelers and travel advisors identify which airlines will seat families with children under 13 together at no extra charge.

The dashboard is designed to help parents avoid paying an extra fee to sit with their children when they are flying, and is a response to an increasing number of consumer complaints that have played a role in changing some airline policies, the DOT said.