Despite the headaches it can cause passengers who stick to their schedule, airlines routinely overbook flights. Why? To over compensate for no-shows; the people who reschedule, or, in rare cases aren’t fit to fly. Simply put, empty seats equals loss of revenue, and we all know airlines across the world are loath to allow that happen.
Although the situation of bumping off passengers with a valid ticket and confirmed reservations has now reached scandalous proportions and a recent EU report warns that the issue among all airlines have reached an untenable level, overbooking is in fact perfectly legal and for most airlines, standard practise. Indeed, many airlines consistently overbook busy routes by up to 200 percent. British Airways have admitted to overbooking almost half a million seats a year. A number of different factors will dictate the overbooking process, including the general state of the overall airline market at the time, holiday seasons, and whether particular flights have experienced a high level of no shows in the past.
There is one thing you can do as a hapless bumped off passenger and that is: know your rights. Legally, if you’ve been bumped off a flight due to overbooking you are entitled to some form of compensation. Minimum levels of compensation are laid down in an EU regulation governing all flights departing from airports within the EU. Payments range from around £45 for missing a short-haul flight that leads to a short delay, to about £180 if it leads to a four-hour delay on a long-haul flight, although this can be exceeded. Or, a number of airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, will offer bumped off passengers a return ticket to any destination serviced by that airline as way of compensation.
Although those travelling with children, as well as pregnant, elderly, disabled and other vulnerable passengers are unlikely to be bumped off a flight, the selection process is otherwise seemingly indiscriminate.
Click here for further information on compensation on overbooked flights in the EU.
