The overbooking problem
Well, lets agree on this. The airlines treat their staff and customers with contempt and are in a downward spiral to the bottom with each other fighting to see who can cut the most regardless of the costs to customers. Let me give you an example that happened to me...
I booked a Delta flight from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, GA to connect with a BA flight to London. (This was some years ago when I lived in the US). The Delta flight was overbooked, and I was prevented from boarding. The offer of a voucher was of little use to me, because I had to be on the London flight. I had family who had travelled hundreds of miles from Liverpool to London to meet me, and I had a job interview on the Monday. No amount of remonstrating or begging would persuade Delta that if no-one volunteered, the consequences for me were greater than for some of the other passengers who had been boarded. When I pointed out that I would miss my BA flight, Delta washed their hands of any responsibility, stating that as the booking was not linked, they were not responsible. Before I get bombarded, I know this is technically correct, but from my perspective I was in a situation, not of my making, and Delta's best offer was cheap hotel overnight and first flight in the morning. Useless to me. US Air were also full and could not sell me a ticket either. Who rescued this? BA. I called them, they arranged to rebook me via Philadelphia from Charlotte, on USAir to Philly then BA to London. That is customer service. They were under no obligation, could have walked away, but the rep could understand my situation and helped me. I have never flown Delta again and never will. I regularly fly BA, who are far from perfect, but are not hostile to a customer.
I believe that where an airline has overbooked seats on a flight, ie, deliberately sold a service that they know they are unable to provide, they should be fully responsible for the consequent damages to the customer. It is time to regulate this practice and either make it illegal to sell things that you do not have or force airlines to take responsibility to for their actions.
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