United Airlines has announced a tweak to its seat booking system "that makes it easier than ever for children under 12-years old to sit next to an adult in their party for free".
The rearrangement, which includes passengers flying on basic economy tickets, came about after "a series of investments in a new seat map feature that dynamically finds available adjacent seats at the time of booking", the carrier said.
The online seat system first scans available free economy seats and then "opens complimentary upgrades to available preferred seats, if needed", the carrier said, explaining that "customers travelling with children under 12 will start to see more adjacent seat options immediately".
The "complete policy change" is to be implemented in March 2023, United said.
"We're focused on delivering a great experience for our younger passengers and their parents and know it often starts with the right seat. We look forward to rolling out more family-friendly features this year," said Linda Jojo, United's chief customer officer.
Complaints that parents and children were struggling to find seats together on US carriers have been picked up by the US government, which has incorporated the seating wrangle in proposed rule changes for the industry that would, if implemented, bring the country's airlines under something closer to European-style regulation.