Overbooked flight- gate agents not boarding until someone volunteered
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: RDU
Posts: 2,263
Overbooked flight- gate agents not boarding until someone volunteered
Yesterday (Saturday), flying BGR (Bangor)- PHL.
At boarding time, GA announces 'this flight is overbooked by 1 passenger, and we're offering $500 voucher to be moved to a later flight... which likely won't be until Monday morning.'
Not surprisingly, no takers. Every 5 minutes or so, the GA would come back with the same robotic tone, saying the exact same thing. Sometimes the offer would remain the same, other times, it would be raised (went $500, $750, $1,000, $1,200, $1,500, $1,700, $1,800).
During the entire process, she made it clear... 'We are unable to board until someone volunteers'.
Around the departure time, I went to the desk and asked why they couldn't just IDB someone. They cited BGR station policy that they wouldn't do that until absolutely necessary, and they would wait until 20 minutes post departure time to do that.
Finally, someone stepped up... at $1,800. Everyone cheers and we finally get to board. Would up leaving about 35 minutes late. Many people missed connections in PHL, which likely cost AA even more given it was 5:15pm when we landed and obviously many flights are full and can't accommodate misconnects.
A few notes:
- The captain was not happy, and even called his dispatch office who said the station manager decides the policy. Apparently his run was done in PHL and he needed to catch his own connection home
- The FA said that most stations will still start the boarding process. In fact, she said she experienced this in PHL earlier in the day and the entire process of raising the voucher amount took only a few minutes... not the 45 it took in BGR.
Obviously, nobody wants a repeat of the UA situation earlier this year, but there must be a better way than to hold 50 passengers hostage until one person steps up.
At boarding time, GA announces 'this flight is overbooked by 1 passenger, and we're offering $500 voucher to be moved to a later flight... which likely won't be until Monday morning.'
Not surprisingly, no takers. Every 5 minutes or so, the GA would come back with the same robotic tone, saying the exact same thing. Sometimes the offer would remain the same, other times, it would be raised (went $500, $750, $1,000, $1,200, $1,500, $1,700, $1,800).
During the entire process, she made it clear... 'We are unable to board until someone volunteers'.
Around the departure time, I went to the desk and asked why they couldn't just IDB someone. They cited BGR station policy that they wouldn't do that until absolutely necessary, and they would wait until 20 minutes post departure time to do that.
Finally, someone stepped up... at $1,800. Everyone cheers and we finally get to board. Would up leaving about 35 minutes late. Many people missed connections in PHL, which likely cost AA even more given it was 5:15pm when we landed and obviously many flights are full and can't accommodate misconnects.
A few notes:
- The captain was not happy, and even called his dispatch office who said the station manager decides the policy. Apparently his run was done in PHL and he needed to catch his own connection home
- The FA said that most stations will still start the boarding process. In fact, she said she experienced this in PHL earlier in the day and the entire process of raising the voucher amount took only a few minutes... not the 45 it took in BGR.
Obviously, nobody wants a repeat of the UA situation earlier this year, but there must be a better way than to hold 50 passengers hostage until one person steps up.
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: RDU
Posts: 2,263
OP here... don't know the specifics. They simply kept saying 'overbooked by 1'.
#4
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Sounds like a great idea, better than boarding everyone and then trying for a volunteer - until it generates a delay, then it's not so good.
But if it's reported to AA an analyst can sort out the pros and cons so the HQ can issue marching orders to the Statuon Chief if necessary.
But if it's reported to AA an analyst can sort out the pros and cons so the HQ can issue marching orders to the Statuon Chief if necessary.
#5
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Midwest
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Posts: 571
Wow $1800 for a bump. I think I would have jumped all over that and driven the 8 hours. Or grabbed an Amtrak. The only downside is the vouchers expire in one year.
#6
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
You only risk a particularly bad situation when you board someone and try to kick them off, as UA discovered.
#7
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: EMA (how boring) but BHX is more convenient.
Posts: 2,366
I wonder what level of cash they would have had to go to in order to get a volunteer. Probably considerably less.
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
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Curious how high you could have gotten them. It would depend on where I was heading, what connections I had, etc, but for local domestic stuff I probably could have been bought for $1800 and a hotel assuming the next flight out was going to be the following day. That said it also wouldn't have stopped me from going and volunteering for a ridiculously high amount when it seemed like they were getting desperate and not finding anyone.
#9
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,245
On another note, I wonder if the station manager has a metric that they are accountable for that places IDB over delayed flight.
#13
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Several posts have been deleted.
It's a classic case of one person posting a nastygram / snark, followed by comments on the snarky post and ensuing posts, with some of those posts even going OMNI/PR.
If anyone would like a refresher on the Rules, use the upper right Help menu, select Rules.
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It's a classic case of one person posting a nastygram / snark, followed by comments on the snarky post and ensuing posts, with some of those posts even going OMNI/PR.
If anyone would like a refresher on the Rules, use the upper right Help menu, select Rules.
/Moderator
#14
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Posts: 13,485
On a similar note, I'm at CLT right now. At a nearby gate, the equipment for CLT-FAY AA5256 has been downgraded, with 10 fewer seats than expected.
I'm not sure if it is a normal GA or a manager, but he started with a $400 voucher + hotel, out first thing tomorrow and within 10 minutes it has gone up to $1000.
Why do these things never happen to me, when I have flexibility?
I'm not sure if it is a normal GA or a manager, but he started with a $400 voucher + hotel, out first thing tomorrow and within 10 minutes it has gone up to $1000.
Why do these things never happen to me, when I have flexibility?