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A federal court blocked a junk fee disclosure rule from the Biden administration, which would have required airlines to list out all ancillary fees associated with purchasing a ticket.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t take issue with the Department of Transportation’s authority to issue such a rule.
Rather, it said there was a procedural violation: The DOT used data from a study that was published after the public comment period to justify the junk fee disclosure rule.
Technically, the Trump administration could implement a similar rule as long as it follows the proper administrative procedures. But it has said it wants fewer regulations and to be more pro-business than the Biden administration was.
Airlines for America, the trade group that represents most major U.S. airlines, filed a lawsuit against the DOT over the rule in May, arguing that rule was a regulatory overreach. Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines filed a separate lawsuit against the junk fee rule in the same federal court. The court put a temporary stay on the rule in July, pending a full review.
President Donald Trump’s pick for Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, was sworn in Tuesday after he was confirmed by the Senate.
Junk Fees Become a Source of Frustration in Washington
Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. have been highly critical of airlines’ use of junk fees. In November, the Senate subcommittee published a report that found American, Delta, United, Spirit and Frontier raked in around $12.4 billion from seating fees.
The subcommittee also found that airlines were increasingly relying on algorithms to set fees, causing them to vary significantly between customers.
In December, the subcommittee held a hearing with airline executives on junk fees. The hearing became heated at times, with senators expressing frustration with the executives for not revealing what determines the fees.
“Nobody enjoys flying in airlines,” said Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri. “It’s a disaster. You charge people fees that they know nothing about.”
Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, questioned why carriers couldn’t disclose ancillary fees upfront.
“We’re all captives on your airplanes at a certain point,” Hassan said at the hearing. “And you just say, ‘you want to pick a seat, we’re just going to charge you some random amount.’ And what we’re trying to get at is why and how much does it actually cost you? And why can’t some of your airlines tell people ahead of time how much this is going to cost?”
