PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] · D–TN
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 2, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-21 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would require the Transportation Department to set rules prohibiting airline fees that are unreasonable or out of proportion to airlines’ costs. It covers reservation changes and cancellations, baggage, seating, priority boarding, and other passenger-flight fees. The rules would also have to address seating passengers with children age 13 or younger without extra charges. These are proposed requirements, not evidence of current law.
prohibiting an air carrier from imposing fees described in subsection (b) that are unreasonable or disproportional to the costs incurred by the air carrier
(1) any fee for a change or cancellation of a reservation for a flight in passenger air transportation; (2) any fee relating to checked or carry-on baggage to be transported on a flight in passenger air transportation; (3) any fee relating to the choice or assignment of seats on a flight in passenger air transportation; (4) any fee relating to priority boarding on a flight in passenger air transportation; and (5) any other fee imposed by an air carrier relating to a flight in passenger air transportation.
ensuring that passengers traveling with children age 13 or younger are able to be seated with those children at no additional charge to the passengers traveling with such children or to any other passenger traveling on the flight involved
Section 1 gives the proposal the short title “Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2026,” or “FAIR Fees Act of 2026.”
This Act may be cited as the Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act of 2026 or the FAIR Fees Act of 2026.
The Secretary of Transportation would have to issue regulations within 270 days after enactment. Those regulations would prohibit unreasonable or disproportionate covered fees and establish standards for assessing them against airlines’ costs.
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe regulations— (1) prohibiting an air carrier from imposing fees described in subsection (b) that are unreasonable or disproportional to the costs incurred by the air carrier; and (2) establishing standards for assessing whether such fees are reasonable and proportional to the costs incurred by the air carrier.
For reservation-change and cancellation fees, the Secretary would have to consider airlines’ net costs or benefits. This includes their ability to anticipate changes, resell available seats, receive a different fare from replacement passengers, and carry the changing passenger on another flight of the same airline. Electronic processing and related labor costs would also have to be considered.
(A) any net benefit or cost to the air carrier from the change or cancellation, taking into consideration— (i) the ability of the air carrier to anticipate the expected average number of cancellations and changes and make reservations accordingly; (ii) the ability of the air carrier to fill a seat made available by a change or cancellation; (iii) any difference in the fare likely to be paid for a ticket sold to another passenger for a seat made available by the change or cancellation, as compared to the fare that was paid for the seat for which the reservation was changed or canceled; and (iv) the likelihood that the passenger changing or canceling the reservation will, as a result, fill a seat on another flight by the same air carrier; (B) the costs of processing the change or cancellation electronically; and (C) any related labor costs
For checked-baggage fees, the Secretary would have to consider electronic processing and related labor costs. The Secretary could also consider other factors deemed appropriate when establishing fee standards.
(2) with respect to a fee described in subsection (b)(2) imposed by an air carrier relating to checked baggage— (A) the costs of processing checked baggage electronically; and (B) any related labor costs
(4) any other considerations the Secretary considers appropriate.
In setting seat-fee standards, the Secretary would have to consider ensuring that passengers traveling with children age 13 or younger can sit with them without additional charges to those passengers or anyone else on the flight.
In establishing the standards required by subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall consider
(3) with respect to a fee described in subsection (b)(3) imposed by an air carrier relating to the choice or assignment of seats on a flight in passenger air transportation, ensuring that passengers traveling with children age 13 or younger are able to be seated with those children at no additional charge to the passengers traveling with such children or to any other passenger traveling on the flight involved
The Secretary would have to update the fee standards at least once every three years.
The Secretary shall update the standards required by subsection (a)(2) not less frequently than every 3 years.
The proposal applies to airlines holding a certificate under 49 U.S.C. 41101. It covers paid passenger transportation offered as a common carrier—a service offered to the public—including foreign, interstate, and intrastate transportation, subject to definitions in existing law.
The term air carrier means any air carrier that holds an air carrier certificate under section 41101 of title 49, United States Code.
The term passenger air transportation means, with respect to the transportation of passengers by aircraft as a common carrier for compensation, foreign air transportation, interstate air transportation, and intrastate air transportation, as such terms are defined in section 40102 of title 49, United States Code.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 2, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on September 21, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-02T18:02:22Z. 2026-09-21: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 2026-09-21: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-21. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version, not other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow special benefit warranting a finding was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Its passenger protections fall within the main policy’s intended coverage. This conclusion is limited to that version, not other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 2, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI