Airlines: Families That Pay Can Stay Together

In the past year, airlines have escalated the trend toward slapping a fee on many things that were formerly free. Seat assignments are included in this ever-growing list of fee-based services. Among the many carriers that charge for window or aisle or other special seat selections are American, Delta, Frontier, Spirit, Allegiant, and United.

However, when this fee policy separates family members flying together, it really looks like "Plane Greed" (according to the headline of a story in the Daily Mail, a UK newspaper). Small wonder that legislators are getting involved in the issue. I've read that American and other airlines give gate agents some leeway in seating families together, a good first step.

JetBlue is one of a handful of carriers that encourages families with small children to board first. "We're in the business of flying people, not just planes," explains a spokesperson. "JetBlue's mission to bring humanity back to air travel, and that means we work to make the travel experience as comfortable and easy as possible for our customers."

Common sense should be a part of every marketing plan, and seating family members with or near each other on a plane should be common sense. Airlines that don't apply common sense will face negative reaction from passengers, the public, and government officials. JetBlue has it right when it notes that it's flying people, not just planes. And people can make their voices heard by voting with their wallets.

Of course airlines want to meet the needs of businesspeople (typically the core of the frequent flyer customer base and a highly profitable group). Does this mean that airlines can't make an effort to compete on the basis of being family-friendly, as well?