‘Bumped’ Fliers Increasing, U.S. Says

WASHINGTON â€”  Airline passengers buy their tickets with the expectation that they’re assured seats on the flights they want, but, more and more, airlines are “bumpingâ€� them because of overbooking.

In the first three months of this year, Delta Air Lines Inc. led the way, with 8,144 passengers knocked off their expected flights--nearly as many as the other nine major carriers combined, according to new Transportation Department statistics. United Airlines had the second-highest total, with 2,142 passengers bumped, and Southwest Airlines was third, with 1,938 passengers bumped.

During the same period in 1998, Delta again had the worst record, but with 2,736 passengers involuntarily bumped.

Involuntary bumpings occur when an airline oversells seats on a flight to guard against passengers who don’t show up, but then can’t find enough volunteers to give up their seats and take a later flight.

Airlines contend that the long-standing practice benefits the consumer, because overbooking allows them to keep flights full and air fares down.

An average of 10% to 15% of the passengers holding a ticket for a flight never show up at the gate. On occasions when most everyone does, passengers often volunteer to give up a seat because carriers offer inducements such as a first-class upgrade on another flight or a voucher for free travel in the future.

“The overbooking allows us to utilize and offer seats that would otherwise be perishable,� said Tim Smith, a spokesman for AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, which has one of the lowest rates of involuntary bumpings. “Once that seat leaves the gate empty, it can never be sold again.�

In one respect, the high levels of bumped flights and passenger complaints aren’t surprising. Amid industrywide prosperity fueled by the strong economy, U.S. airlines have been flying jetliners packed to near capacity. And the push for “passenger-rights� bills in Congress in good part reflects how the crowded conditions aboard jetliners and at airports have increasingly annoyed the flying public.

Delta acknowledged Wednesday that it has had problems correctly forecasting its passenger loads. The airline has put a management team on the issue. It also has ordered new passenger-forecasting software and created a team to identify problematic flights each day and then minimize involuntary bumpings.

“We fully intend to significantly reduce involuntary bumpings to an acceptable level. That is a corporate goal,� airline spokesman John Kennedy said.

Nonetheless, Kennedy noted that the overall number of passengers affected is small and that Delta has improved significantly in other areas, such as on-time performance and baggage handling.

According to Transportation Department policy, airlines can’t deny a passenger a seat without first asking for volunteers to get off a flight that is overbooked. The department also outlines a compensation plan for those who end up being involuntarily bumped.

If the passenger is placed on another flight and arrives within an hour of his original arrival time, there is no compensation required. If the passenger arrives between one and two hours late, the airline must pay the passenger a penalty equal to the cost of his ticket, up to a maximum of $200. If the passenger arrives more than two hours late, the penalty is double the price of the ticket, up to a maximum of $400.

Airlines have different ways of deciding who gets bumped. Most accommodate passengers on a first-come, first-served basis, but some will seat their first- and business-class customers before coach customers.

The increase in overbookings comes at a time when passenger complaints are on the rise. According to the same statistics, the major airlines averaged 2.47 complaints per 100,000 passengers in May, up from 1.15 complaints in May 1998.

American led the way in that category, with 3.7 complaints per 100,000 passengers.