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119-hr-10516119th CongressWALLET

FAIR Fees Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Representative Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]

Introduced

Summary

Limits unreasonable airline fees. The FAIR Fees Act of 2026 would require the Secretary of Transportation to ban airline fees that are unreasonable or not proportional to the carrier's costs and to create clear standards for judging those fees.

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  • Passengers and families would see protections against excessive charges for changing or cancelling reservations, baggage, seat selection, and priority boarding. Passengers traveling with children 13 or younger must be able to sit with those children without extra charges.
  • Air carriers would have to justify fees based on specific cost factors like the ability to fill seats made available by a change or cancellation, fare differences when seats are resold, electronic processing costs, and related labor.
  • The Secretary would have 270 days to issue regulations that define prohibited fees and establish standards, with those standards required to be reviewed and updated at least every 3 years.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Limits on Unreasonable Airline Fees

If enacted, the Transportation Secretary would issue rules within 270 days to prohibit airline fees that are unreasonable or out of line with carrier costs. The rule would cover change or cancellation fees, checked and carry-on baggage fees, seat choice or assignment fees, priority boarding, and other flight-related fees. The rules would require that passengers traveling with children age 13 or younger be seated with those children at no extra charge. The Secretary would have to set standards that consider processing and labor costs and other factors, and update those standards at least every 3 years. The bill would define which airlines and passenger air transportation the rules cover, effective upon enactment.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]

TN • D

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17]

    CA • D

    Sponsored 9/21/2026

  • Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4]

    IL • D

    Sponsored 9/21/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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