U.S. Airlines Say Disclosing Bag and Change Fees Will Only Confuse Travelers

A group of U.S. airlines has officially filed suit against the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) new fee disclosure rules that would force carriers to disclose extra fees up front.

Airlines for America (A4A), which represents American Airlines, Delta, United, Alaska, and Hawaiian Airlines (Southwest did not join the lawsuit), filed suit against the DOT in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals late last week, hoping to block the new disclosure rules from going into effect.

The new rules require airlines to tell consumers up front how much ancillary services, such as checked or carry-on bags or changes, cost when booking air tickets. Each fee must be disclosed upfront, in plain site, the first time a traveler searches for air tickets. 

According to A4A, the new rules wouldn’t make things easier, but rather would confuse consumers who are already “well aware of the existence of ancillary service fees.” Airlines have gone to “great lengths” to educate consumers about the fees already, A4A said, and changing the disclosure rules is simply “a bad solution in search of a problem.”

“The ancillary fee rule by the Department of Transportation will greatly confuse consumers who will be inundated with information that will only serve to complicate the buying process,” A4A said.

The DOT had worked for three years to pass the new disclosure rules, which include some complicated language for travel advisors and isn’t likely to back down on the new rules. The DOT said on Monday that it is prepared to “vigorously” defend the new rules.