Summary
- Major airlines decline to boost travel benefits for troops despite USDOT push.
- USDOT creates “Support Our Troops” dashboard to track airlines’ troop benefits.
- Airlines like Allegiant and Spirit tick all benefit categories, while American and United offer military concessions.
Major US airlines have reportedly declined to commit to boosting travel benefits for military personnel, triggering a heated debate with the Department of Transportation. Notwithstanding the latest arguments between US-based airlines and the government, many airlines do offer a range of benefits to troops. For example, American Airlines recently donated a number of seats for injured service members from the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and soldiers from the Texas Army National Guard so that they could see a basketball match.
Push for troop flight benefits
Stars and Stripes reported that former presidential candidate and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated on Friday that America’s top airlines—Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and United Airlines — had declined to commit to boosting travel benefits for American military personnel. The article further states that Buttigieg “urged airlines to do more for military personnel and vowed to publicize the issue on a dashboard last April.”
Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock
Buttigieg stated the airlines had declined to “make clear and enforceable commitments to US service members and their families.” Buttigieg has been pushing for a while for airlines to improve service member benefits.
US-based airlines and the White House have repeatedly clashed on several customer service fronts. The USDOT claims, “Under the Biden-Harris Administration, DOT has advanced the largest expansion of airline passenger rights, issued the biggest fines against airlines for failing consumers, and returned more money to passengers in refunds and reimbursements than ever before in the Department’s history.”
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USDOT’s airline dashboard
The USDOT now has a “Support Our Troops” dashboard on its website to name and shame US airlines, which are deemed to not be doing enough to support service members while naming those who are. This is not the first dashboard the USDOT has created for the airlines (e.g., it has one for minimum airline seat size).
Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock
According to the USDOT, Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit have taken “steps to enhance their travel benefits for service members.” It claims these three airlines have stepped up following Buttigieg’s call to action. It also states that Southwest Airlines has received two green ticks because of its existing baggage and change fee policies (although these apply to all passengers).
The dashboard lists the ten largest US airlines, displaying their commitments to the troops alone and with immediate family members. The data is compiled based on their Customer Service Plan at flightrights.gov/military.
The DOT dashboard includes four categories.
- Waives cancellation fees and ensures full refunds for service members and accompanying family members who cancel travel plans due to a military order or directive.
- Waives change fees for service members and accompanying family who reschedule flights to do a military order or directive.
- At least one free standard carry-on and at least two free standard checked bags for service members and their accompanying spouse and children.
- The lowest fare for a flight for immediate family members to visit service members recently injured in the line of duty.
Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines tick all four categories. Frontier Airlines ticks the first three but fails to have the lowest fair for immediate family visiting injured service relatives. Southwest is ticked for waiving change fees and including free luggage. The other airlines (Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue, American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Alaska Airlines) all fail to score a single green tick.
Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock
The DOT defines service members on the dashboard as “current members of the military who are serving or may be called to serve.”
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Major airlines plead unfair
The airlines, for their part, claim to go beyond what the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is measuring. Stars and Stripes reported Airlines for America as saying the dashboard “shows only a fraction of what airlines offer service members.” Some airlines reportedly do not want to make the benefits part of the customer service plans as that would make them open to the USDOT to enforce them. The airlines want to keep their commitments voluntarily.
“For our active-duty U.S. service members, Delta offers recognition and savings not available to civilian customers. It’s our way of expressing appreciation for your service. Along with early boarding, we offer free checked military bag allowance, Go to footer note for active duty members and special U.S. Military policies on pet travel along with vacation packages through Delta Vacations®. To make a reservation please contact Delta Reservations at 1-800-221-1212.” – Delta Air Lines
Photo: Angel DiBilio | Shutterstock
Benefits offered to service members by some airlines include waiving cancelation and change fees for service members who cancel or reschedule due to military orders. Some airlines offer free baggage. In other words, some airlines already offer these benefits to troops, but these benefits do not appear in the Customer Service Plan referenced by the USDOT.
“We offer government or military fares in some markets. Call Reservations for more information. Depending on your destination, bags are free of charge with active U.S. military ID: Up to 5 bags 100 lbs each for active U.S. military and / or dependents traveling on orders Up to 3 bags 50 lbs each for active U.S. military on personal / leisure travel.” – American Airlines
While American Airlines gets no ticks on the dashboard, their website suggests they do offer military benefits. These include selected special fares and free baggage. Among other benefits, United Airlines states, “You do not have to pay fees for up to five checked bags, depending on your orders. To find out how many bags you can bring on your next flight, visit the checked bags page.”