As if the airlines didn't have enough bad publicity since the pandemic, with staffing shortages, mass delays, threatened pilot strikes, and the recent holiday Southwest Airlines meltdown all leading to frustrated travelers and closer scrutiny from federal watchdogs. Now, another black eye. The Wall Street Journal's annual airline scorecard shows passengers are getting bumped off of flights at a higher rate now than before the pandemic. Involuntary bumpings---or passengers denied boarding due to overcrowded flights---rose last year at double the rate of the prior year, and were 24% higher than the last full year before the pandemic.
Airlines typically bump passengers when a flight is oversold and not enough people volunteer to move to another flight, or if the flight is switched to a smaller plane, forcing a certain number of passengers to be forced off. If a passenger is bumped involuntarily, the airline must report it to the Department of Transportation (DOT). Federal law also requires airlines to compensate passengers who are bumped due to an oversold flight, but not due to a change in aircraft. The compensation amount increases based on how long the passenger's trip is delayed.
All of this is a major headache for the airlines at a time when they are already squarely on the federal government's radar. "The last thing they want to do is have one of these numbers (like bumped passengers) going south on them, where all of a sudden you have the industry inconveniencing more people than ever, because that is going to bring more scrutiny from the DoT and turn up the heat quite a bit on commercial airlines," says Jay Ratliff, aviation analyst.
Ratliff tells KTRH the airlines would much rather work things out voluntarily with you in order to keep everyone happy and avoid reporting it to the DoT. "So people who are in a position to be bumped know they might get something out of this, and we've seen airlines give passengers thousands of dollars in some cases, to catch a later flight," he says.
"The scenario is kind of in our favor," Ratliff continues. "And that is why I tell people look, if you're going to volunteer to give up your seat, give the airline a ridiculous number, so if they end up having to pay you it's well worth your time."
This does give an advantage to passengers who are in a potentially difficult and inconvenient situation. But Ratliff warns not to be too hasty in your negotiations. "Please make sure you know what flight they're going to put you on," he says. "Because you might give up your flight at 9 a.m. only to be told it's going to be 8 p.m. the next night before they get you home...so make sure you're aware of that before you make that transaction final."