With more flights overbooked, airlines often pay people who give up their seats voluntarily better than those whom they deny seats, a federal audit on airline service found recently. That's unfair, says Kenneth Mead, the Department of Transportation's inspector general, whose office performed the audit. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has introduced a bill that would require the Department of Transportation to issue a rule increasing the limit.
Airlines are free to pay whatever they wish to volunteers.
Federal rules set compensation for involuntarily bumped passengers, and those amounts have been unchanged since 1978. On 89 overbooked flights reviewed by the inspector general, three-quarters of the passengers who were bumped involuntarily got the same as or less compensation than those who gave up their seats willingly, Mead says. On one flight, five passengers who agreed to wait for a later flight were given free tickets for a future round trip, while a passenger who was involuntarily bumped received no compensation at all. Travel experts say they've witnessed similar occurrences. In effect, fliers who really need to get to their destination can get a worse deal than those who have the luxury of time.