MikeB525

As you know, airlines typically overbook flights, which often times leads to near-violent confrontations with customers at the gate (see the TV show "Airline"). They do this to gain extra revenue because there are always a couple people who wind up not going on the flight do to oversleeping, last minute problems, etc. Do you agree or disagree with the practice of deliberately overbooking flights?

Ok, discuss.

HSLD

Seems like this thread belongs on "Airline Management Central".

Does it stink to get left at the gate? Yes beyond that, line pilots have little to no influence on this management revenue tool

MikeB525

yes, i know the pilots have absolutely no control over it. I just wanted to see what they thought of it.

Ewfflyer

Morally, it sucks, but financially, you need that airplane at 85-95% full to generate a profit from a class I took in college. So they take the numbers game and try to maximize the load-out on average no-shows. Honestly I don't blame them for doing it, but on the same token, hope I never get bumped if I "have" to be there. Then again, I'd probably fly myself if that were the issue.(boss let's us use the planes for a very reasonable rate)

hopefulharry

It depends on how much they overbook the flight. Overbooking it by 1 person is a big difference when compared to 20 people. I don't know any particular airlines rules for it or if they even have any. But if they've done the research and for instance found that 5% of people that book a flight don't show, then sure overbook a bit.

PottyMouth22

On a flight last week to Atlanta flying Airtran they had to nock 6 people off the flight. Of course a few of them got pretty nasty and it was pretty funny. But it turns out that the 2 rows of 3 behind me were taped off and the seats looked like some animal ripped them apart. Like, they were in really bad shape. I would have taken a picture with my phone but the battery was dead.

Everyone waiting at our gate was talking about how overbooking was horrible and bad for passengers and such a shame that a company would do that..yada yada yada..

Kind of an odd situation. Pretty sure the aircraft was N971AT.


Now that I think of it this post is pretty pointless. But a story none the less.

ryane946

Absolutely. Overbooking is a must.

Overbooking a flight is a very complex algorith that takes into account lots of historical data. I have to give airlines credit for this. It is pretty amazing. A general rule for overbooking is about 5%. Slightly more on 6am flights. Slightly less when there are big groups (they are less likely to no-show). They also take into account possible weight restrictions. So many things can cause people to miss their flights. Oversleeping, long security lines, misconnect from delayed flights, go standby on an earlier flight, show up late due to traffic, long line at checkin, etc...etc...etc...

It is VERY RARE that people are denied boarding against their will. Let me say that again. It is VERY RARE that people are denied boarding against their will. I don't have a source off hand, but I want to say the rate is like .6 people per 10,000. That means you need to fly on about 17,000 flights before you are denied boarding against your will.
Actually, just dug up a source. The average for 2005 was .89 per 10,000. Still, involuntary denied boardings rarely happen.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...rformance.html

Slightly less rare is for people with flexible travel plans (ie. they don't have to get to their destination immediately) to accept compensation to take a later flight. Generally they are offered a seat (usually in first class) on the next available flight. In addition, they are given something like a free roundtrip ticket anywhere in the US, or something like a $300 travel voucher. Lots of people like this. You'd be surprised how many people jump at the opportunity. Usually the gate agent has more volunteers than they need.


My experience with this comes my dad, who was a CSR many years ago, and was the main customer service manager at one of the airlines major hub. He agrees with everything I said. Plus, usually when I fly stand-by (non-rev), I get on flights that are approximately 5% overbooked. The last three times I have flown were this spring break (MADNESS), the Friday before christmas from DIA, after a snowstorm closed it for 3 consecutive days, and the wednesday before thanksgiving (busiest travel day of the year). If I can get on a flight non-rev (behind retirees, revenue stand-bys, people on company business, and actual passengers when the plane is 5% overbooked) on these days, overbooking is not a problem.

Basically, give credit to the airlines. They know what they are doing in regards to overbooking. It is a great system.

STILL GROUNDED

IMHO I think that if you no show you should be charged the full share. If you missed the flight because you were late that would qualify as your problem. Does it suck? Yep! Is it fair? Yep! I can not tell you how many times a day I see someone running from the parking lot to security, running from security to the gate, running from McDonalds to the gate. Damn it its an airline with a schedule that another 145 people on your flight are trying to keep. When they say get there 2 hours early that is what they mean, it is your responsibility to get on the flight, not the airlines to give your money back if you don't. If they could count on all of the dollars and seats sold they would not have to overbook the airplane.

Like I said my humble opinion. Happy Easter!

bravo24

Not a bad idea. But in the interest of fairness, when the airline fails to get me to my destination on time (for reasons other than weather) then I should get a full refund of my ticket - just like FedEx does when it doesn't deliver an overnight package on time. While it may be my responsibility to be at the gate on time, it is the airline's responsibility to have the flight depart on time. I've had flights cancelled or delayed because of maintenance problems, no crew, or no airplane. All of which are under the airline's control and is their responsibiliby. Fair is fair.

Gman

That's why JetBlue has a never overbook policy. Having to deny someone boarding after they paid for their ticket and showed up on time is something we leave to those 'other airlines'.
Under the new BoR our customers would get $1000 if it still happened.

Lead, follow or get out of the way.