Airlines must compensate passengers for overbooking, says aviation regulator

16 Feb 2018 20:07:33

cntraveller.in

That moment when you arrive just in time for your flight, confirmed ticket in hand, only to be told that the flight is full? Yeah, that is not acceptable, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told the Delhi High Court recently. The DGCA says it does not condone the practice of overbooking flights and passengers who are denied boarding can claim compensation, even beyond what airlines currently offer.

It is common for airlines across the world to sell more seats than are available to compensate for any loss of revenue due to no-shows and last-minute cancellations. Backed by a lot of data, airlines usually know what flights and sectors they can overbook. However, the math often goes wrong, and when every single person who bought a ticket shows up at the counter, you have a situation. Airlines check if anyone’s willing to take the next flight, and offer a little conciliatory gesture, a meal voucher, for example. If nothing works, someone must be ‘bumped off’. In such cases, passengers typically have the following options, as provided by the 2010 Civil Aviation Rules:

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