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Ryanair is the go-to airline for many holiday-goers in the UK and Ireland as cheap tickets to a variety of vacation spots abroad is a hard prospect to turn down when the summer heat increases, yet the company has recently come under scrutiny for an 'unfair' charge that makes parents pay to sit next to their children.
Most airlines these days require passengers to pay in order to reserve a specific seat on the plane, and while you can go without and be allocated at random, it's a cost that many people are willing to stomach to be by their friends and family.
That additional cost becomes a bit more complex when airlines specify the necessity of parents to sit with children aged between 2 and 11, and enforcing this rule while also implementing a charge has left Ryanair in hot water with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
As reported by the BBC, the vast majority of UK airlines that implement rules regarding seating for parents and children waive the seating fee, yet a new investigation by the CMA is looking into whether Ryanair's application is 'unfair' for consumers.
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The budget airline does specify that children under the age of 12 are given a reserved seat for free, yet it also implements a 'mandatory family seat' which costs around £8 ($10.71) on average per flight, which for families looking to travel on a budget can be a challenge.
"Contract terms are unfair if they put customers at an unfair disadvantage," the CMA outlined in a press release regarding the matter, adding that "unfair terms are not legally binding on customers, and the CMA can take enforcement to stop businesses from using them."
On top of this, the CMA is also investigating whether Ryanair's mandatory family seat fee is implemented through the process of 'dripping' — which refers to the process of hiding extra charges that are deemed mandatory, as opposed to optional additions like standard seat reservations or additional luggage allocations.
This transparency is deemed to be important as it allows customers to accurately understand exactly how much money they're expected to spend on a flight without any surprises along the way, adding in addition the ability to properly compare between airlines for the best price.
Addressing the situation, Hayley Fletcher, Senior Director of Consumer Protection at the CMA, outlined:
"Lots of families save up to afford a summer holiday and we know that extra charges can quickly bump up the price. Our investigation will consider Ryanair's approach to family seat reservations and how the cost is presented to customers to determine whether they comply with consumer law."
She added that the CMA has informed businesses that they must ensure that the price shown up-front is the total mandatory cost, and that "those who don't face the very real possibility of action from the CMA."
The investigation is only at the beginning stages right now and no conclusions have been reached, but infringement of consumer protection law could result in a fine of up to 10% of their global turnover, or £300,000 ($400,780) if that ends up being higher than 10%.
