Never Get Bumped Again! Southwest Announces Plans To Put An End To Overbooking

By SheSpeaksTeam May 12, 2017

With all of the airline drama we’ve seen splashed across the headlines lately, it seems Southwest Airlines is taking a step in the right direction announcing they will put an end to the practice of overbooking flights. After packing your bags and standing in long security lines, no one likes the idea of getting bumped from an overbooked flight. This nuisance became more like a nightmare last month when we watched an older man dragged from a United Airlines flight when he refused to give up his seat.

Chicago Tribune reports about Southwest’s proactive move to put an end to the passenger-hated practice of overbooking flights. This will be a big change for this particular airline since last year alone it was reported that they bumped more than 15,000 passengers when they oversold tickets. This is more than any other U.S. airline in 2016. The CEO of Southwest Gary Kelly explains that they had plans to eventually phase out the practice of overbooking, but decided to pull the plug sooner after the United Airlines incident in early April.

Airlines have been overbooking flights for many years in order to ensure they fly at full capacity and make up for no-shows. But recently critics that include Washington politicians have been calling for an end to the practice of overbooking. Southwest has not announced when their new policy that will end overbooking goes into effect. Jetblue has been something of a beacon of light as it is currently the only U.S. airline with this policy already in place.

What do you think of the Southwest Airlines announcement?

Do you think flight overbooking is a necessary evil or should there be policies in place to prevent this practice?