in effect
This is a final rule from the U.S. Department of Transportation that takes effect July 2, 2026. It carries out a February 3, 2026 decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which struck down DOT’s 2024 rule on airline “ancillary” (extra) fee disclosures because the agency skipped a required public-comment step. Because striking down the 2024 rule automatically revives the rules that came before it, DOT is updating the Code of Federal Regulations to restore the airline fee-disclosure standards that were in place under a 2011 rule.
It removes all the 2024 requirements, which had never actually taken effect because a court paused them in July 2024. Gone are the rules that airlines and ticket-selling websites show the fees for a first checked bag, second checked bag, carry-on bag, and ticket changes/cancellations right at the first screen where a fare appears, plus related requirements to share fee data with ticket agents and metasearch sites (like Google Flights), give a set seat-selection notice, and state fees verbally in phone/in-person sales. In their place, the older 2011 standards return: airlines must post any baggage-fee increase or allowance change on their homepage for at least three months; airlines and ticket agents must state on the first fare-quote screen that added baggage fees may apply and where to find them; e-ticket confirmations must show the free baggage allowance and the fees for carry-on and first and second checked bags (agents may link to this rather than list it); and airlines must list all extra-service fees in one central spot on their website, with non-baggage fees allowed to be shown as ranges. DOT issued this without seeking public comment, calling it a routine step to match the regulations to the court’s ruling, and states it creates no new costs or benefits.
U.S. and foreign airlines that sell tickets in the United States, and online and offline ticket agents, are the parties that must follow the restored 2011 disclosure standards; metasearch sites are no longer subject to the removed 2024 sharing rules. Air travelers are affected in that the extra upfront fee displays required by the 2024 rule will not appear, though DOT notes travelers never saw those displays because the 2024 rule was paused before it started.