DOT dashboard shows which airlines allow free seat change for families

Family Seating Dashboard launched by DOT

The U.S. Department of Transportation launched the Family Seating Dashboard website which allows families to see which airlines allow fee-free seat changes so members can sit together.

While the U.S. Department of Transportation works on a plan to ban airlines from charging extra to have parents sit next to their young children, it is slowly pressuring airlines to voluntarily stop the practice on their own.

Anna Brazzell is traveling with her 11-year-old daughter, Ariel. The thought of not sitting next to her on a flight "as a parent that blows my mind," Brazzell told FOX 5 New York.

Currently, most airlines charge extra to seat families together with their young children. A practice most parents say lacks common sense. Now, the department is rolling out a new dashboard system to let travelers know which airlines allow families to sit together without any additional fees.

It's called the Airline Family Seating Dashboard, and it lists the airlines that guarantee adjacent seats for children under 14 years old and an accompanying adult at no additional cost for all fare types and which carriers don't.

In February, DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg first announced the plan to launch the dashboard. At the same time, he also tweeted that the department was "moving to require airlines to guarantee fee-free family seating."

FILE - Airline passengers sitting in their seats before takeoff. (Bob Riha/WireImage)

The website shows a green check next to the airlines that guarantee they will not charge extra for parents to sit next to their young children if a seat is available.

"In the weeks since we’ve started this push, we’ve already seen 3 airlines sign up and make that commitment in writing American, Frontier and Alaska," Buttigieg said.

"Small children, you can’t stay in another place. This is not normal," said Shmuel Azman, who was traveling to Tornto, Canada, with his wife and four young children. "Only when they’re close to me are they safe."

A handful of airlines have already updated their policies in recent weeks prior to the dashboard being released.

"We’re going to keep pushing the other airlines to sign up even while we’re simultaneously working on a regulation to set a floor that would require this for everybody," Buttigieg added.

FOX Business contributed to this report.