Articles tagged “involuntary denied boarding”

Overbooking has gotten a lot of attention in the past three weeks, but, most of the time, it's not a big deal. Airlines know passengers won't show up, so they sell a few more tickets than they have seats. What's the harm in that? Airlines might want to reduce the number of extra seats they sell, but they don't need to retire the practice.

This has been a rough two and a half weeks for United, which was clearly caught off guard by the fallout from this now-famous April 9 incident. It will be some time before the airline regains its footing, but perhaps this report is a step in the right direction.

United says it does not yet know if business was hurt by last week's bumping drama in Chicago. It's possible that the airline lost some customers on the margins, but United will be fine long-term. If the price is right, passengers will be back.