It’s a story that has become more common at airports: After you show up, get through security and walk to your assigned gate, you hear an announcement that the airline is looking for volunteers to give up their seats. If you’re unlucky, you find out you’re getting “bumped” from the flight because the airline overbooked.
Airlines beset by labor shortages have struggled to keep up with summer travel demand, leading to an unusually high number of cancellations, delays and disappearing luggage. More people are also getting bumped: According to a consumer report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the rate of passengers who were involuntarily denied boarding in the first quarter of 2022 was 0.44 per 10,000 passengers, which is more than five times greater than the 2021 figure (0.08) and bigger than the pre-pandemic rate of 0.32 in the same period of 2019.
Flexible travelers can use these situations to their advantage. Passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight from Michigan to Minnesota reported the carrier was offering $10,000 for them to rebook. A few weeks ago, a woman on a flight from New York to Florida said she accepted a $3,000 offer from Delta to get off the plane.
If you were counting on getting to your destination on time, the bumping experience can be frustrating and confusing. Because the situation can be inevitable, we asked experts to explain why airlines ask passengers to sit out flights and what to do if it happens to you.
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Are airlines allowed to deny boarding if a passenger wants to fly?
The airline industry and the U.S. Department of Transportation refer to “bumping” as involuntary denied boarding. That means a passenger paid for a confirmed booking on a specific flight and was then told there was no space available on the plane.
“While this is problematic, it is an industry practice that dates back decades and it is allowed by the DOT,” aviation expert and consumer advocate William McGee said.
There could be other reasons for bumping, though. Sometimes, the airline wants to use a passenger’s seat to transport a crew member, an employee or a higher-paying VIP passenger.
Voluntary denied boarding happens when a flight is oversold, and the airline finds volunteers who are willing to opt into flying at a later time in exchange for money.
This situation typically turns into “reverse auction” — when an airline representative dangles increasing levels of compensation. “Broadly speaking, this system works and it generates very few complaints since consumers must agree to the terms in advance,” McGee said.
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