U.S. Proposes Ban On Airline Fees For Seating Parents Next To Kids

Parents should't have to pay a fee to sit next to their children when flying, according to the White House, which is moving to ban airlines from charging families extra to be seated together.

Under a rule proposed Thursday by the Department of Transportation, airlines would be required to seat parents and kids 13 and younger together free of charge when adjacent seating is available at booking.

The idea of seating adults with their younger children "is common sense and also seems like something that should be standard practice," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at a news briefing on Wednesday. "As someone who has personally experienced flying with toddlers," Buttigieg said he knew first-hand that families traveling with little ones do not need added difficulties.

"What we're doing is we are requiring that an airline not charge you extra to sit next to your kids — or your grandkids, it applies to any company adults," Buttigieg told the CBS Mornings on Thursday. "We've gotten hundreds of complaints over this issue since I got this job and we're doing something about it."

Fees can add hundreds of dollars

The extra cost can be the difference in whether families can afford flights for vacations or to see friends and relatives, the administration argued, noting its proposal would save a family of four up to $200 roundtrip if seat fees are $25 each.

For children too young to fasten their own seatbelts or feed themselves, being seated next to a parent is crucial, yet those that don't want to pay more often end up pleading with other passengers to switch seats. If passengers opt not to swap seats, they may end up next to an unsupervised child, stressing out the youngster, parent, flight attendants and travelers, DOT said.

A4A, a group representing seven major U.S. airlines, said in a statement that member carriers "make every effort to accommodate customers traveling together — especially those traveling with children," while noting that some airlines don't charge a family seating fee.

President Biden called on Congress to ban family seating and other so-called "junk" fees early last year, with Buttigieg then urging the 10 largest airlines to voluntarily ban the fees. Four complied: Alaska, American, Frontier and JetBlue.

Congress gave the DOT explicit authority to propose its rule as part of the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, the transportation secretary noted. "We are confident that we are well-founded in our authority, but it helps to get reassurances from Congress," Buttigieg noted in answering a question about whether the proposal might be challenged in court.

A U.S. appeals court on Monday blocked the agency's new rule on upfront disclosure of airline fees pending a full view of the regulation, with the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying the DOT "likely" exceeded its authority in granting an industry request for a temporary block.

The DOT in April issued a mandate requiring that airlines and ticket agents disclose service fees in addition to airfares, with six carriers including American, Delta and United, along with A4A, in May suing to block the rule.

In addition to banning airlines from charging fees to seat those 13 or under next to a parent or accompanying adult, the DOT's new proposal would require that airlines seat parents next to their kids within 48 hours of booking when adjacent seats are available.

If adjacent seats are not available, carriers would be required to provide passengers with full refunds or the option of waiting to see if family seating frees up. If not, airlines would have to offer the option to rebook for free or stay on the flight in nonadjacent seats.

https://www.cbsnews.com/team/kate-gibson/

Travelore News: Japan's All Nippon Airways Expands US Service With Houston

With its new nonstop flights between Tokyo and Houston, Japan's All Nippon Airways now serves 10 cities in North America, and the CEO says he is looking for more destinations in the U.S. heartland.

All Nippon, or ANA for short, was drawn to Houston by the large number of connecting flights there to Latin America on partner United Airlines. The airline hopes travelers in the central U.S. will see Tokyo as a jumping-off spot to other points in Asia. ANA is optimistic enough in the demand that it began service last week with 250-seat Boeing 777 jets instead of the smaller Boeing 787.

Through an interpreter, CEO Osamu Shinobe discussed his airline's future plans for the U.S. and other topics in interview with The Associated Press. Following are the highlights, which have been condensed for space and clarity.

Q. How are bookings for Toyko-Houston flights?

A: The initial flight was fully booked and for June and July bookings are around 70 percent and over.

Q. Why did you decide to fly to Houston?

A: There were two attractive reasons. One is that this is one of the greatest hubs of United (ANA and United are partners in the Star Alliance, one of three global teams of airlines). And Houston being in the south of the USA, we thought this can be a good portal for our passengers to Central and Latin American countries. Also there are many Japanese companies operating near the Houston area.

Q. Will you fly to more U.S. cities? Denver, for example, is also a hub for United.

A: (With the Boeing 787) we can fly routes for which the 777 is a bit too large, such as Seattle and San Jose. We are now looking at the wide spots of the United States — that is the central region of the United States. We don't have any concrete plans for Denver yet ... (United) is already flying from Denver to Tokyo, and also if you look at the Japanese community including the Japanese business community in Denver, that is much smaller than that of Houston.

Q. How is travel demand in Japan?

A: The Japanese government is relaxing visa requirements for (visitors from) Asian countries, and therefore we see a surge in inbound (passengers) from Asian countries to Japan. And because of the economic situation of the West, we see a good strength over the Pacific as well.

Q. Is the weaker yen helping boost travel to Japan?

A: For Asian people, I think visa relaxation plays an important role. Other than Asian countries — for example, the United States or other passengers — I think a weaker yen plays an important role because it used to be 80 yen to the dollar; it's now 155 yen to the dollar. So when we speak to our travelers they say they feel hotels are cheaper.

Contributed by DAVID KOENIG, AP.

Cathay Pacific Adds Three Direct Flights From San Francisco

Cathay Pacific Airways this week added three weekly direct flight from San Francisco International Airport to Hong Kong, bringing the total number of non-stop weekly flights from San Francisco to 17. San Francisco was the airline's first destination for non-stop service to the USA which launched in 1986. These additional flights demonstrate both the growing market for leisure and business travelers as well as Cathay Pacific's ongoing commitment to expanding connectivity between North America and Asia, providing more scheduling flexibility and greater customer choice over the superb hub in Hong Kong. The added frequencies from San Francisco arrive on the heels of Cathay Pacific's new four-times-weekly service from Boston to Hong Kong, which launched on May 3, 2015.

Flight CX893 from San Francisco to Hong Kong departs every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 1:30 am, arriving in Hong Kong the following day at 6:40 am. This early morning arrival was strategically coordinated to allow passengers to connect with every Cathay Pacific flight across Asia – including Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and over 22 gateways in mainland China – without a lengthy layover in Hong Kong. The return flight, CX892, will depart Hong Kong at 6:45 pm (local time) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving in San Francisco at 4:30 pm (same day).

Cathay Pacific Senior Vice President, Americas, Tom Owen, said, "Our addition of three weekly direct flights from San Francisco to Hong Kong illustrates the commitment we have to further expanding connectivity for the North American market as well as better serving the growing demand in the wider San Francisco Bay Area."

"In our continued efforts to deliver a product and service that our customers desire, the departure and arrival schedule is synchronized to offer even greater flexibility and connectivity over Hong Kong to and from most Asian points, for both leisure and business travelers. We are looking forward to introducing our award-winning cabin crew service, our premium in-flight product and catering and world-renowned airport lounges to more Americans in the months ahead."

All of Cathay Pacific's 17 flights from San Francisco are operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Flight CX893 offers a three-class cabin configuration on Wednesdays and Fridays: the award-winning Business Class, the newest cabin, Premium Economy, and the new long-haul Economy Class; Sunday departures also include First Class for a four-cabin configuration.

Details of the new flights are included in the schedule below (all times local):

Flight no From To Departure/Arrival Days of operation

CX873 SFO HKG 0100/0610+1 Daily
CX893 SFO HKG 0130/0640+1 Wed, Fri, Sun
CX879 SFO HKG 1340/1855+2 Daily
CX872 HKG SFO 0030/2215-1 Daily
CX870 HKG SFO 1415/1150 Daily
CX892 HKG SFO 1845/1630 Tue, Thurs, Sat

Singapore Airlines Unveils New Premium Economy Class Experience

Singapore Airlines just unveiled its new Premium Economy Class seats and the in-flight offerings that customers will enjoy when the new cabin class enters service in August.

Following a two-year development program and an investment of about US$80 million, the new seats were displayed for the first time today at a media launch in Singapore. Launch events are also taking place to display the new product to travel agents and corporate clients.

Premium Economy Class will welcome customers with a contemporary and stylish design. Each seat has a width of either 18.5 or 19.5 inches, depending on aircraft type, with an 8-inch recline and a seat pitch of 38 inches. Together with active noise-cancelling headphones and a sleek 13.3-inch full HD monitor which is the largest in its class, customers can look forward to an enhanced in-flight entertainment experience.

Other features include a full leather finishing, calf-rest and foot-bar for every seat, individual in-seat power supply, two USB ports, personal in-seat reading light, cocktail table, and more stowage space for personal items.

"Many of our customers have been asking for a Premium Economy offering and we are confident that what we are delivering will exceed their expectations," said Singapore Airlines Executive Vice President Commercial, Mr Mak Swee Wah.

"The new cabin product is the culmination of two years of work, which included extensive research and focus group studies involving customers and our design partners. Our Premium Economy Class will provide customers more comfort and in-flight amenities. Complemented by the exceptional service that Singapore Airlines is so well known for, the new cabin class will be 'a great new way to fly'."

Premium Economy Class will provide an extensive range of food and beverage offerings, which includes the Premium Economy Book the Cook service, enabling advance ordering of a selection of main courses.

Priority check-in and baggage handling, with a generous baggage allowance of 35kg, will be offered to customers. Members of the KrisFlyer frequent-flyer programBest premium will also receive 10% more miles when they fly in Premium Economy Class.

Premium Economy Class will be progressively introduced on 19 Airbus A380s, 19 Boeing 777-300ERs and the first 20 Airbus A350s. It will enter commercial service on 9 August 2015 to Sydney, before being introduced to other destinations such as Beijing, Delhi, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London, Mumbai, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Zurich.

Travelore News: Air China To Add Flights To Its Beijing-Los Angeles Route From May

As travel between China and the United States gains in popularity fast, increasing capacity continuously on China-US routes has been one of the Air China's important moves to enhance its long-haul schedules and build its world-spanning route network. A good reflection of that is the carrier will add flights to its Beijing-Los Angeles route from May 2015, further strengthening its presence on the North American market.

The new flight numbers are CA887/8. From May 2 to June 30, 2015, four flights will be offered per week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. FromJuly 1 to October 24, the flights will be increased to daily. The outbound flight departs fromBeijing at 12:00 and arrives in Los Angeles at 09:00 local time. The return flight departs from Los Angeles at 11:30 and arrives in Beijing at 15:10 local time. Boeing 777-300ER, an aircraft type quite popular with the world's business travelers, features full-flat seats in First Class/Business Class as well as Central Bar, personal AVODs and power outlets in all classes of service, accessible toilet and mood lighting system which can mimic wonderful moments from sunrise to sunset.

When it comes to travelers, China is both the source market and the destination for the United States, and it's also true the other way round. Traveler numbers have been rising fast in recent years. As the largest carrier between China and the United States, Air China has been investing a lot in the market in terms of capacity and continuous aircraft type upgrade. From 2013 to 2014, Air China started three non-stop routes:Beijing-Houston, Beijing-Hawaii andBeijing-Washington. Currently, Air China serves 7 destinations in North America, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Washington, Vancouver and Hawaii, spanning the southern, western and eastern parts of the United States. It offers 104 flights per week operated with Boeing 777-300ER. OnJanuary 7, 2015, Air China's first Boeing 747-8, a new member of Boeing 747 family, made its maiden flight on its long-range route:Beijing-New York.

Air China also offers seasonal healthy meals onboard and chauffeured transfers for VIP passengers on the ground. Excellent amenities and attentive services guarantee passengers a truly pleasant journey.