remove the passenger by overbooking and not refund the ticket (or, as the asshat CEO said, re-accommodate them).
The passengers removed because of overbooking are USUALLY volunteers who not only get another flight to the same destination, they get hotel stays at the airlines expense and usually some sort of cash incentive.
Overbooking and bumping is the airlines trying to ensure that every flight is sold out... because out of 150 or so people, some (they expect) will not show up (either because the passenger is late to the gate or a connecting flight is delayed or canceled). So they overbook to make sure that they get max revenue for the departing flight.
It's an obnoxious practice. OTOH, when I was flying a lot, I would often have flexible schedules so I made out like a bandit by being the LAST to volunteer (usually getting more incentives than the first) to give up my seat. I got free flights, piles of cash, hotel stays, free parking for my car (since I had to pay an extra day at my home airport parking garage, etc).
However, I was single with no children, a job where I could work remotely if I had to, no pets to look after and so on. I was free to travel whenever.
What happened to that doctor should have never happened. The airlines should have offered more money until they got the required 4 seats OR found another way to send the "deadhead" crew to Louisville.
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