Airlines Must Disclose Additional Fees in Advance? US Court Temporarily Halts

An appeals court in the United States on Monday (July 29) ruled to temporarily block a new regulation from the Department of Transportation that requires airlines to disclose various additional fees in advance, pending further decision.

According to reports from Reuters, in April, the Department of Transportation issued several new regulations, one of which requires airlines and ticket agents to disclose various additional fees, known as “junk fees,” when publishing ticket prices. This move aims to help consumers avoid unnecessary or unexpected charges and is part of the efforts by the Biden administration over the past three years to address such fees.

However, a panel of three judges in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the United States believed that the rule “may exceed the authority of the Department of Transportation and would cause irreparable harm to airlines,” and approved the airline industry’s request for a temporary halt to the new regulation.

The appeals court added that a hearing on the case will be scheduled at the next court session for oral arguments.

In May, major U.S. airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, along with industry groups Airlines for America (A4A) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) filed a lawsuit to block the new regulation by the Department of Transportation.

The regulation requires airlines to disclose fee data to third-party ticket agents by October 30 and to disclose fee data on their websites by April 30, 2025.

The airline industry groups involved in the lawsuit argued that this requirement would force airlines to “spend millions of dollars” redesigning their websites, diverting resources from other projects.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation stated that the agency will continue to defend the rule, adding that the court’s ruling does not prevent airlines from voluntarily complying with this common-sense rule, which simply requires them to keep customers informed.

In April of this year, the Department of Transportation stated that passengers were paying airlines approximately $543 million annually in extra fees such as baggage fees that they often realize only upon reaching the airport.

According to the Department of Transportation, this new regulation will put an end to “enticement tactics used by some airlines to conceal the true cost of discounted flights.”