WASHINGTON — Price transparency on airline tickets could be a thing of the past, as House Republicans push to reverse Obama-era rules that bar airlines from announcing anything but their total prices, including all required taxes and fees.
But the Democrats and consumer watchdogs are audible alarmssaying the change would be a gift to airlines, which could hide the true cost of airfare behind links or fine print, and increase their profits by getting consumers to spend more.
“This is a bad idea,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud for the National Consumers League. “Price transparency makes it easier for consumers to compare prices. … We don’t want to have to do advanced algebra and trigonometry to figure out how much it costs.”
The Republican disposition got into a huge Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization package, one of the few bills considered binding in this Congress, by members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. However, it was amended to leave part of the Obama-era rule intact: Under the amendment, airlines would still have to be open about any mandatory airline-imposed fees, but would be allowed to remove government taxes and fees from their advertised rates.
A spokesman for the chairman of the transportation committee, Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., told NBC News the provision would allow airlines the same advertising freedom enjoyed by other industries.
On Thursday, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., wrote a letter to their House colleagues urging them to support Schakowsky amendment remove the pricing reform bill from the FAA before it goes to a House vote next week. But they face major hurdles in getting him included in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.
“Consumers who book airline tickets deserve to know the full price of a ticket at the beginning of their transaction to avoid surprise fees and easily compare prices,” the three Democrats wrote. “The airline industry is using this mandatory legislation to unravel the air travel price transparency laws that have been in place for the last decade.”
Airlines have been required to show the full cost of a fare since then-President Barack Obama issued a mandate, via a Department of Transportation rule, in 2012. And it seems to be very popular with consumers.
TO survey conducted by YouGov this month found that 87% of US adults said they support rules that require airlines to show the full cost of a ticket in advance in advertising. That includes 83% of independents, 88% of Democrats and 90% of Republicans surveyed.
And when asked specifically about efforts to roll back price transparency, allowing airlines to advertise only the base price of their ticket, excluding mandatory taxes and fees, 67% of those surveyed opposed the idea.
President Joe Biden has made price transparency and the fight against hidden “junk fees” a top priority and has encouraged federal agencies to write new rules to pull back the curtain on hidden fees and use their enforcement arms to go after companies that employ bait and switch. practices
But the Chamber seems ready to take the airline industry in the opposite direction.
The House FAA bill, which also includes provisions on airport and aircraft modernization, pilot training, drone regulation and FAA funding, passed unanimously by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in a 63-0 vote after months of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans.
However, with other measures in the bill, the price transparency provision went largely unnoticed.
One committee member, Rep. Donald Payne, DN.J., attempted to remove an earlier version of the legislative language, but withdrew his amendment after a compromise amendment was offered. Representative Dan Webster, Republican of Florida, introduced the alternative amendment through committee, prohibiting airlines from hiding their own fares, but allowing them to remove government taxes and fees from their prices.
Studies have found consumers spend more when the full cost of a purchase is not disclosed up front.
“It’s a very simple explanation of why they’re doing it,” Breyault said. “It makes them money.”
“As you go through this process, you’re hitting sort of psychological tripwires that make us break, because we believe there’s a cost to stopping this and going back and starting over,” Breyault added.
A spokesperson for Airlines for AmericaAn advocacy group representing major US airlines that have fought to remove the transparency law told NBC News that “this provision would provide clarity on the true cost of a ticket in the face of the numerous government taxes and fees that are added.” .
The group said the US government collected approximately $20 billion in taxes in commercial aviation last year.
“The American people deserve transparency, and the government should not be able to hide its mandatory fees such as the base cost of airfare,” a spokesperson for the group said in a statement.
But airline ticket sellers like TripAdvisor, Expedia and Booking.com are on the other side of the debate.
“You can’t compare purchases on the checkout page,” said Laura Chadwick, president and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, which represents online sellers. “It’s essential to put that information up front, the first place consumers see the airfare.”
Rep. Rick Larson of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, told the Associated Press that the bill was still a work in progress, but that the changes to price transparency were “something we can live with.” His office declined an interview request.
The bill is scheduled for a House vote next week, when it is expected to pass. It’s unclear if Ocasio-Cortez, Deluzio and Schakowsky will get their amendment added to the package.
After House approval, the omnibus bill will be reconciled with the Senate FAA bill that has not yet been finalized. The two chambers will have to resolve their differences, probably this fall.
Two Democratic Senate staffers told NBC News that price transparency is on their radar, as are other consumer protections the House failed to include in its FAA bill. That includes mandatory compensation for airline delays and requiring airlines to seat families together, at no extra charge.
“Travel is expensive,” said Chadwick, of the online marketers group. “We believe consumers should have as much information up front so they can make effective decisions, compare prices for the best value, and feel good about their purchases at the end.”
