Thanks to all the attention from social media about passengers getting removed from flights due to overbooking, the number of people getting bumped has hit an all time low. (I guess public shaming does work!) In fact, in the second quarter, 12 of the nation’s largest airlines only bumped 44 out of every million passengers. Last year that number was 62 out of every million (for the same time period).
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“Airlines have long sold more seats on flights than are actually available, in order to account for passengers who don’t show up for flights. Swapping out one aircraft for a smaller one due to maintenance issues or weather can lead to bumping as well.” 1
In the 23 years we’ve recorded the data, that’s the lowest rate ever! (Southwest has the biggest decline; they bumped around 1,500 fewer passengers.)
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There is no doubt that the violent removal of a doctor from an overbooked flight in April of this year sparked the changed. Thankfully, since then, multiple airlines have taken a look at their procedures regarding overbooking:
- United announced changes in its procedure which now includes offering more money to passengers on overbooked flights to encourage volunteers to give up their seats. So far, bumping is down by 85%.
- Delta Air Lines raised the amount of money its employees could offer.
- Southwest Airlines will no longer overbook flights at all.
- JetBlue, who has long had a policy against overbooking (but sometimes bumped passengers to a switch to a smaller aircraft) changed its policy as to how it swaps planes, and their number has dropped.
