Biden admin airline fee disclosure rules blocked by appeals court

A US appeals court on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration’s 2024 rule on upfront disclosure of airline fees, saying the Transportation Department had not complied with procedural rules.

The court ruling said the department had authority to write fee disclosure rules that specifically address “unfair or deceptive practices being conducted by airlines.”

However, the court also said the department should have allowed airlines an opportunity to comment on a study used by USDOT that looked at the impact of the fee disclosure rules.

The court sent the rule back to USDOT to give it a chance to address the procedural error. The department, which has been under control of the Trump administration since Jan. 20, did not immediately comment on whether it plans to proceed.

Regulations issued by USDOT in April required airlines and ticket agents to disclose service fees alongside the airfare, in a move to help consumers avoid unneeded or unexpected fees, but they were put on hold pending a legal challenge.

Airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines, joined by trade group Airlines for America and the International Air Transport Association, sued in May to overturn the rules.

Airlines for America said it was studying the ruling and did not comment.

The Biden rules had set anOctober 2024 deadline for airlines to disclose fee data to third-party ticket agents, and on their own websites by April 2025.

The industry previously said the rule would require airlines to “spend millions” to re-engineer their websites.

In April, USDOT said consumers were overpaying $543 million in fees annually, generating additional revenue for airlines from passengers surprised by having to pay a “higher fee at the airport to check a bag.”

Major airlines charge such higher fees if travelers do not pay in advance or wait until flight time. Several U.S. airlines boosted fees last year for checked baggage.

The rule would end “bait-and-switch tactics some airlines use to disguise the true cost of discounted flights,” added USDOT.

US airlines collected $7.1 billion in baggage fees in 2023, up from $6.8 billion in 2022.