Why would oversold flights happen less often? The contract wouldn’t even have to change. The contract is that they’ll fly you from A to B, but maybe not in the plane that you expected.
They are supposed to fly you from A to B on a given day at a given time. If they mess that up, they’re supposed to make alternate accommodations. The current trend of intentionally overselling flights and then having to force bump a passenger because no one took the bait money is what I would like to see be not ever a thing companies try to get away with.
They are supposed to fly you from A to B on a given day at a given time.
Sure… but you’re not buying a guarantee that will happen. If you want to buy a first-class ticket, you’re paying for the privilege of not being bumped. If you’re buying an economy-class ticket you’re getting a discount because you’re not guaranteed a seat.
having to force bump a passenger because no one took the bait money is what I would like to see be not ever a thing companies try to get away with.
If you did that most planes would end up flying with a minimum of 10% of the seats empty. As a result, passengers would have to pay significantly more for their tickets.
With the current setup, the airlines oversell every plane, but most of the time everyone still gets a seat. The airlines know that roughly 5-10% of the passengers never make it to the gate and claim their seat. Some people change their mind at the last minute. Some miscalculate traffic. Some are on connecting flights that get delayed.
It’s pretty rare that an airline has to bump passengers, and they hate it when they have to do it. It screws with their whole schedule and eats into their profits. But, having to occasionally do that is worth it for them because they get to run many more flights at 98% capacity or something, rather than 90% or even 80%.
Why would oversold flights happen less often? The contract wouldn’t even have to change. The contract is that they’ll fly you from A to B, but maybe not in the plane that you expected.
They are supposed to fly you from A to B on a given day at a given time. If they mess that up, they’re supposed to make alternate accommodations. The current trend of intentionally overselling flights and then having to force bump a passenger because no one took the bait money is what I would like to see be not ever a thing companies try to get away with.
Sure… but you’re not buying a guarantee that will happen. If you want to buy a first-class ticket, you’re paying for the privilege of not being bumped. If you’re buying an economy-class ticket you’re getting a discount because you’re not guaranteed a seat.
If you did that most planes would end up flying with a minimum of 10% of the seats empty. As a result, passengers would have to pay significantly more for their tickets.
With the current setup, the airlines oversell every plane, but most of the time everyone still gets a seat. The airlines know that roughly 5-10% of the passengers never make it to the gate and claim their seat. Some people change their mind at the last minute. Some miscalculate traffic. Some are on connecting flights that get delayed.
It’s pretty rare that an airline has to bump passengers, and they hate it when they have to do it. It screws with their whole schedule and eats into their profits. But, having to occasionally do that is worth it for them because they get to run many more flights at 98% capacity or something, rather than 90% or even 80%.