As originally written, the legislation would have required “air carriers, foreign air carriers, and ticket agents to clearly disclose to consumers at all points of sale customer-specific fee information, or itinerary-specific information if a customer elects not to provide customer-specific information, for a first checked bag, a second checked bag, and one carry-on bag wherever fare and schedule information is provided to consumers.” It further mandated that airlines would share baggage fee data with online travel agents.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Department of Transportation’s decision appears to be in an effort to\u00a0reduce industry regulation. In its statement, the agency said that its “withdrawal corresponds with the Department\u2019s and Administration\u2019s priorities and is consistent with the\u00a0Executive Order 13771, Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Some consumers and activists, however, aren’t very happy. “I can tell you definitively as former CEO of Ticketmaster that this will cause consumers to unknowingly pay more than they intended, while airlines will run tests to find the best way to trick consumers into paying those fees”\u00a0tweeted Nathan Hubbard, adding that the decision was “unconscionably anti-consumer” and “a complete sell out.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the lack of regulation may open the door for airlines to devise crafty ways in which to\u00a0further add\u00a0ancillary fees. It’ll be up to the industry, in this case, to self-regulate.<\/span><\/p>\n

With report from Forbes<\/strong><\/p>\n