[SkyDancer]

Thing is: The seat was paid for regardless if it was used. If the passenger who paid for the seat didn’t show prior to door closing then it’s up for grabs, but when a passenger who paid for the seat is tossed, that is just not right.

[grania]

I just ranted in #17 along the lines of your thoughts. I had another thought. Shouldn't the purchase of a ticket be thought of as a contract? That seat belongs to whomever bought the ticket for the occurrence, whether they show up or not.

[Mr. Douglas]

I get that. It’s why overbooking seriously annoys me. But I also know why they do it. And this sort of thing is VERY rare. In fact, it’s rather unusual that nobody took them up on the offer.

I also am not sure this is an “overbooking” issue. Rather, they were trying to put a “standby status” crew on the plane. i.e. it is possible the plane was not overbooked at all, but every paying passenger showed up - and they needed to transport a crew too.

This is definitely a PR screwup, but I hate seeing the pompus passenger get away with anything here...