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Simon Calder, who is also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been a travel writer for The Independent for over 25 years. Every week in his opinion piece, he delves into a significant travel topic and its implications for readers.
Overbooking can be beneficial for all parties involved – airlines, the environment, and passengers – if managed properly. It can result in increased revenue for airlines, fuller planes which is better for the environment, and compensation for passengers who may have to wait a few hours for their flight. However, when overbooking is not handled correctly, it can lead to problems. For instance, when I agreed to travel a few hours later on a Delta Airlines flight from Salt Lake City to Long Beach, I received a $600 (£480) compensation that covered my entire transatlantic journey.
Many airlines, excluding Ryanair, often oversell tickets in anticipation of “no shows” based on past experience. However, this strategy does not always work in their favor, as seen when all passengers actually show up.
The regulations for UK and EU airlines state that the procedure for handling this situation is straightforward. The carrier must first seek out volunteers and no one should be involuntarily denied boarding. The airline is obligated to inquire if passengers are willing to travel at a later time. The reward, which may include monetary compensation, a complimentary flight, an upgrade for the next day, or a combination of these, should be gradually increased until a sufficient number of volunteers are obtained. In the United States, this process is well-established, but in the UK, it is not as efficient.
When offloading occurs without consent, there is typically an unwritten hierarchy of importance.
If someone arrives at the gate even just one minute after the designated time, they may not be able to board the plane if it is overbooked. This is a method that airlines use to handle situations where there are too many passengers, and it is important to be at the gate on time, even if you are confident that the flight will not start boarding yet.
The first part is simple. Following that, there are specific groups of individuals that airlines will not want to remove from their flight. In the case of a “network carrier” like Air France, KLM, or Lufthansa, passengers traveling solely to Paris, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt are at a higher risk of being removed compared to those with a long-distance connecting flight.
Affordable airline easyJet is mindful of not disrupting the operations of its subsidiary, easyJet Holidays. Therefore, customers who have made reservations through the company can expect to still be permitted to board.
Regular travelers may avoid having to discard their boarding passes, as the airline values them as valuable customers and wants to keep them satisfied.
I strongly believe that individuals with physical or mental disabilities, as well as families with children, should always have the opportunity to travel. I hope that the majority of airline employees share this sentiment, although there have been instances where this has not been the case.
The last and most commonly used approach is to prioritize those who checked in last. These are typically travelers who, like myself, choose not to pay for advanced seat selection. The reasoning may be similar to that of a theatre or football ticket, where if you have been given seat 15D, you feel that you have secured that specific spot and would be very upset if it were given to someone else.
For those of us who are only informed that our seat cannot be assigned and are instructed to seek assistance from airport staff, we may already have a feeling that something might not go as planned.
I wish that my hypothesis is incorrect, as it would imply a careless and thoughtless approach to denying those who have eagerly planned for a journey. However, I am concerned that it may be the easiest course of action for overworked ground staff whose airlines do not consistently follow the regulations for passengers’ rights. I am hopeful that the Civil Aviation Authority will intervene and require airlines to invest in resolving an issue that they have caused.
Source: independent.co.uk
