Foxx: DOT tried to help airline travelers

WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the latest proposal to require airlines and ticket agents to disclose baggage fees when listing fares is an example of consumer regulations the department pursued for travelers during his tenure.

The rule proposed Tuesday would require airlines and agents to disclose the cost of the first and second checked bags, and carry-on bags, when providing airfares.

The department proposed the bag-fee rule because the fees traditionally were included in fares, but increasingly have been charged separately during the last decade. The fees generated $3.8 billion in 2015.

“We’ve worked hard to improve the environment for consumers in aviation,” Foxx, in a roundtable with reporters Thursday on his last full day of the administration. “We’ve certainly worked to ensure that there is an optimal level of competition.”

The proposal, which is open for public comment for 60 days, is the latest administration effort to make fares easier to compare.

Airlines typically say travelers learn what fees are, but that how those fees are advertised and portrayed should be left to them in competition.

The bag-fee proposal is the latest regulation or proposal that the Obama administration has adopted as part of its effort to make travel costs and rules more obvious for travelers.

In October, the department proposed that travelers get a refund of bag fees if the luggage arrives late. The department wants to hear from airlines, travelers and others how late is too late.

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Congress told the department to complete the rule by July, with refunds for bags more than 12 hours late on a domestic flight or 15 hours on an international flight. But the secretary could extend those deadlines to 18 hours for domestic and 30 hours for international flights.

Other airline-related regulations floated under the Obama administration include:

►  A requirement that airlines publish more information about their on-time arrivals and lost baggage. Those regulations will go into effect in 2018.

► More protections for travelers with disabilities, who face obstacles like handicapped-inaccessible bathrooms and in-flight entertainment that doesn't provide adaptions for blind or deaf passengers. But the DOT is also moving to limit the use of emotional support animals.

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► A proposal to require more transparency for online ticket platforms "so sites can’t privilege one airline over another without you knowing about it." Some airlines, including Southwest, don't make fares available for comparison, and the Department of Transportation is seeking comments on whether they should be required to do so.

“We’ve certainly put out several rules over the course of time I‘ve been here that are consumer oriented, rules that for example required greater disclosure by some of the internet companies over which people buy their plane tickets, so that the baggage fees are disclosed,” Foxx said.

Earlier, the administration approved the use of electronic devices aboard planes.

“All that is about trying to make the experience of flying better, easier and more convenient for those who are traveling over the sky,” Foxx said. “I also think that we’ve done some things that have a made it a little more pleasant, like allowing people to use their electronic devices on planes.”

“That’s been a real winner in my household, and probably yours too,” said Foxx, who has children aged 10 and 12.

Contributing: Gregory Korte, USA TODAY

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