Why did it take so long to scrap the parent tax on flight seats? (And can I have my money back, Mr O'Leary?)

The news that airlines could soon be forced to axe charges for families who want to sit together on planes is as welcome as the October sunshine. Parents aren’t the only ones feeling relieved. Fees to correct spelling or digit mistakes made when booking are also getting the boot. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: ‘Parents should not have to feel the pinch just to sit next to their child on a flight or for amending a simple booking error.’ Set to become law before next year’s summer holidays, the plans come after years of campaigning by consumer champion Which? on the issue. In the last decade I’ve parted with thousands for the basic right to sit beside my daughters on a plane. It’s hard not to feel irked that it’s taken this long to banish fees that arguably should never have been legal in the first place. Carriers, with Michael O’Leary’s Ryanair the worst offender, have had us in an unethical chokehold. ‘Don’t want your five-year-old sat with strangers for three hours? Better cough up then!’ Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, pictured at the Labour Party Conference in September, said paying for booking errors and to be seated next to your child on a plane are set to be outlawed before next summer Costly mistakes for passengers: Low cost airlines have been the worst offenders on ancillary charges such as fees for amending spelling mistakesConfusingly, each airline has its own rules. Ryanair and Wizz Air’s allocation algorithms pair ‘one child with one adult’ and easyJet and Jet2 say they’ll seat children ‘close’ to adult family members – but on a first-come, first-served basis, so no guarantee. For families already hammered on expensive supply-and-demand pricing during school holidays, seat charges have felt like salt in the wound. A flight this month, for example, for an adult travelling from London to Barcelona with Ryanair, not tied to term dates, is around £38 return. A family of four with two children under 11, flying out during half-term pays £251 each plus £31.80 per person in seat selection fees, so £282.80pp – around nine times more than the solo tourist. When profit rules, these fees are just another example of how short-sighted big business in Travel can be. Lone flyers benefit in the skies, but they’re often the hardest done by on package holidays, facing ‘solo supplement fees’ - and often for the worst rooms. Ryanair changed its family seating policy - children aged 2 to 11 can now get adjacent seats assigned for free after check-in - in June after pressure from Which?, after years of making parents pay a mandatory seat selection feeIt’s not just financial pain though. Unveiling the Bill, the Government pointed out that more than 1,000 ‘serious disruptive passenger incidents’ were logged by airlines in 2025. Regular flyers will have been privy to the awkward conversations between passengers that can take place during boarding, with parents who swerve the fees upon booking relying on the kindness of strangers to switch seats once on the plane. Cabin crew often shuffle people around before taxiing, but if passengers aren’t cooperative – and why should they be? – it can make for a fractious start to a holiday. Trying to keep flight costs under £1,000 this summer, we decided to play ‘Ryanair roulette’ on seat selection, with neither of my daughters, then 14 and 12, minding sitting alone for the two-hour trip to Milan. The seat selection gods, though, were in a mischievous mood: one in row 1, another in row 8, one in the middle and one right at the back near the loos. Suddenly, I felt more uneasy. So, the Italian who shrugged, smiled, gathered his stuff up and moved in a heartbeat – ‘Grazie mille!’ – so the girls could sit together was instantly elevated to hero status. Three cheers for Which? then, and its pressure to get this Bill in the House of Commons. Before it becomes law though, if a frazzled-looking parent asks you if you’d mind moving (and if cabin crew agree), please consider switching. A minor inconvenience for you is likely to equal a big saving for the mum or dad asking. And less money lining O’Leary’s pocket.