Delta Air Lines offered passengers $10,000 each to get off an oversold flight

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/delta-air-lines-offered-passengers-182823180.html

Passengers on a Delta flight from Michigan to Minnesota say that the airline offered them $10,000 cash to give up their seats on an oversold domestic flight.

In the end, the hour-long flight departed just 20 minutes later than scheduled from Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, according to Cirium’s flight tracker.

Jason Aten, a tech columnist at Inc. magazine, boarded the plane with his family and was waiting for it to leave the gate when a flight attendant came over the intercom, he wrote earlier this week. The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the apparently oversold flight, offering them $10,000 cash each.

“If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now,” the flight attendant said, Aten wrote.

Delta, along with other airlines, has canceled huge numbers of flights recently because of major staffing shortages. Holiday weekends in the U.S., including Memorial Day and Juneteenth, have been marked by chaos.

*snip*


Off to figure out how to book some of these flights....lol

[dchill]

1. Can someone please explain how that's a thing?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. I don't fly much but when I have, I've always booked a specific seat. So...

So would a more savvy flyer explain how a flight gets overbooked?

[MerryHolidays]

9. It's probably the last several people who HADN'T booked seats

that discovered the issue while reserving seats (late) online or at the airport.

Airlines routinely overlook because there will generally be no-shows for whatever reason because the airlines USUALLY are good at getting it right.

It looks like this summer might be the time where they are NOT getting it right. That being said, $10,000 seems very, very high, especially for a domestic flight that isn't even transcontinental.

We are flying next week and would definitely consider this! It would cause some disruption for events that we are attending. However, for 10 grand per person, we could stand a lot of aggravation!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. I thought that was what "flying standby" was- you're in line for an opening but not actually booked.

In which case, I don't get why the airline would be obligated to bribe earlier bookers to give up their seats.

[Emile]

12. Years ago when I was in the Navy I flew standby all the time. Most of the

time I flew in the first class section when flying standby.

[MerryHolidays]

21. Flying standby is different

That's when you book when it's oversold and are in the queue to get on the flight.

I guess it depends on specific flights and airlines, but my understanding is that airlines generally allow booking of several percentage points (e.g., 10-20% of actual seats), assuming several people will cancel/rebook on another flight.

It's when all ticketed passengers fill up all available seats that this becomes an issue where airlines have to offer compensation to get ticketed passengers to agree to take another flight.

Here are some more details from the US DoT: https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/bumping-oversales#:~:text=The%20business%20practice%20of%20bumping,a%20result%20of%20oversales%20practices.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

27. OK, so are they selling some specific seats twice?

Don't the people buying tickets on a full plane look at the seating chart and see there are no empty seats?

[MerryHolidays]

28. Not everyone books at the time of making the reservation

And many airlines charge for the "privilege" of choosing your own seat in advance and allow you to select "for free" only 24 hours or less before departure time/date.

And many of the more premium sections (e.g., business or first class) appear empty as a lot of people get upgraded 24 hours before, but not earlier.

So a full plane can look like it has loads of seats while you are buying your ticket.

[Freddie]

18. When I fly I always book a seat

$35 or so seems totally worth it to me. Might change my mind for 10k.

[70sEraVet]

3. People will be studying Delta flight lists, the way gamblers study racehorses.

Pick a couple of winners each week, and you'll be lighting cigars with thousand dollar bills!

[Hekate]

4. Gee, all I ever got was a set of tickets usable in the coming year

[madaboutharry]

5. I was once on an overbooked flight

where they were offering people $1000 to take the next flight that was 4 hours later. If I didn’t have to take a connection, I would have taken it.

[Mosby]

6. I don't believe the story. Nt

[Lochloosa]

8. It's true

[Mosby]

10. Sure it is, lol

Eta ask yourself why they would pay 3-4 times more than the flight cost.

Every article goes back to the same original story written by Jason Aten.

2 eta -

Jason Aten is a columnist and tech analyst who writes about big tech companies, including Apple, Facebook, and Google, as well as the products and services they make. Full bio and contact information available at www.jasonaten.net.

I bet this story is getting him lots of views.

[Lochloosa]

24. ....

When reached for comment by Fortune, a Delta spokesperson did not confirm or deny whether the flight offered passengers $10,000.

“The ability to provide compensation empowers our employees to take care of our customers and get our aircraft out on time,” the spokesperson said

In 2017, Delta increased its maximum compensation from $1,350 to nearly $10,000 for passengers removed from oversold flights, according to a leaked bulletin to staff published by CNBC. That policy change happened in the wake of United’s 2017 incident, where passenger David Dao refused to give up his seat and ended up being dragged off the plane.

https://fortune.com/2022/06/30/delta-air-lines-offered-10000-oversold-flight/

[BlackSkimmer]

17. I don't either.

I spent some time working for the airlines over the years.

They can bump people when need be. 10 grand per pax? No way.

[MerryHolidays]

22. Pre-pandemic, I would agree with you

However, ticket prices have gotten so high (even economy) that it might not be as ludicrous as it sounds.

And I fully agree: the compensation for this flight seems EXTREMELY high, but there may be valid reasons for airlines to do so.

I am pretty sure if we are given this opportunity next week, we probably would take it!

[Initech]

7. I would have been like: "sold!!!!".

[localroger]

13. I have a friend who had a major hobby of wonking the frequent flyer system before Covid

Getting bumped is an art form among these guys, as is (or was, it doesn't really work any more) finding cheap trips for which the frequent flyer miles are worth far more than the ticket price. $10K is high but believable in the current climate of shortages. I have been paid $1K and then taken the next flight home a few hours later, and this was in a much less crazy time. I have also been given that much in vouchers (equivalent to cash for booking any flight on the airline, no limits) and shuttle service, night in a very nice hotel suite, and dinner and breakfast at a four star restaurant. It varies a lot though, and my friend was a pro at positioning herself to be there when opportunity struck.

[Mosby]

14. The guy who wrote the original article didn't take the supposive deal.

[localroger]

15. Sometimes you can't because of connections, etc.

I"m sure the price was so high partially because the bumpees are likely to miss holiday events for the 4th. I have seen them bid the price up if there were no takers. My friend always made me aware that I might get a call changing the pickup arrangements at the airport, because getting bumped even for more reasonable compensation was a major score. And due to her tutelage I've taken a few bumps when I wasn't with her because usually there is a race to the ticket counter when bumps are offered. What probably happened here is the race to the ticket counter didn't occur because of the holiday and the uncertainty of getting another flight, and the airline had to keep upping the compensation until enough people took the chocolate and they could meet their obligations.

[captain queeg]

16. Sounds strange but maybe they had 8 employees stranded that needed to

Go to the destination and crew flights leaving from there.

[former9thward]

25. Then they would bump the passengers.

They have the power to do that. I don't believe the story at all.

[PSPS]

19. And they can't afford higher wages for their employees?

[EX500rider]

20. When I was coming back from Colombia Spirit offered me a free ticket to anywhere they fly

If I could fly out the following day but I couldn't due to work.

[DFW]

23. Wow, all they offered me was to get a hotel at my cost and come back the next morning.

Of course, I was in Amsterdam, not Grand Rapids:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216872435

[doc03]

26. About three years ago I was on an overbooked flight. They needed two seats, they started out

offering $200, then $400, then $600, finally a couple took it at $800 each. The catch was the $800 was only for
tickets on that airline. They threw in a night at a local hotel too.