easyJet denying boarding – again

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Viewing 13 posts - 16 through 28 (of 28 total)

  • FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=820013]Flightlevel, fully agree. Capetonianm – I am sure what you say is correct with respect to traditional airline operations but the LCC model is totally different. With LCCs, they have taken the money – whether the pax uses the seat or not, their revenue is not affected. In theory, if no passengers show for the flight but they had all paid, the airline would not suffer. I really cannot see why, with the LCC model, you would even consider overbooking. Easyjet is being unethical here and this is practice that should be prohibited.

    [/quote]

    To play devil’s advocate, the airline argument goes that by overbooking they make most efficient use of the asset and are thus able to offer lower prices to all, as well as being ‘greener’ as more people fly for the same amount of CO2 generated.


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    “Easyjet overbooking thousands of peak season flights … ”

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news-14-1/easyjet-overbooking-epidemic-wrecking-travel-plans-for-thousands-and-flouting-eu-rules-10407684.html

    Made worse by the fact that EZY staff appear not to be following EU rules when an overbooking situation arises.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    There’s a corollary to the above in that some LCCs offer ‘flexifares’ which can be changed at the last minute, so the airline can be faced with empty seats if pax transfer to other flights.

    This will typically occur on routes used by business people so whilst a Stansted to Ibiza on a Saturday in August might have a very low churn rate, that would not apply to a Madrid to Gatwick on a Monday morning.

    Sorry but I can’t help looking at this from the airline perspective since I worked in YM and pricing.

    I have been using easyJet since they started in 1995/6 and up to last year was sometimes doing 2 or 3 segments a week. I have never experienced or seen anyone being offloaded or denied boarding other than a woman who was extremely rude and threatening to a gate agent.

    I know it happens, but we don’t necessarily have all the facts to judge.


    Gin&Tonic
    Participant

    Easy Jet should be shamed as much as United for this case, the major factors being.
    1. 15 and alone, parents drove away after he went through security. No one escorted him back to the ticket desk, shameful.
    2. Overbooking ( a fact we have to accept) should be managed at check in not the aircraft isle, why does the check in system not handle this?

    Shame on these airlines.


    ImissConcorde
    Participant

    The individual had a boarding card with a seat number. Surely the person to be offloaded is the one who checks in when all seats are allocated. Then a volunteer can be looked for to trade places.


    Cedric_Statherby
    Participant

    I am only surprised that the LCCs have not spotted another money-raiser and offered to “insure you against overbooking and denial of boarding” for say £10 a ticket.

    In effect this is a combination of (a) general fare increase, and (b) people are being offered a £10 rebate to be liable for offloading, rather than the much larger sums if they are actually offloaded. It should be very revenue positive for the airline and also peace-of-mind positive for passengers willing to pay the extra.

    As for unloading a 15 year old travelling alone, that is of course crass beyond belief. But I am sure the trouble here is that, in order to avoid any suspicion or hint of discrimination in who is chosen to be offloaded, all human decision-making has been eliminated and the computer chooses someone at random and the human operator probably does not have the authority to override the computer’s choice. Otherwise no airline could ever offload
    – a woman (gender discrimination)
    – someone from a minority ethnic background (racial discrimination)
    – anyone over 60 (age discrimination)
    – someone who was disabled, even if the disability was irrelevant (discrimination against the disabled)
    – anyone who was LGBTI+ (homophobic and sexual discrimination)
    and so on. Doesn’t leave many people one can offload except the standard middle-aged white straight male (in some ways the most discriminated-against and put-upon minority of them all).


    Flightlevel
    Participant

    Overbooking an already sold seat and not refunding the original customer is selling the same seat twice and not efficient or saving emissions because both pax need to travel.
    Dishonest by the airline whichever it is (UA or U2) and profiteering by deception.
    Travel on such an airline is a lottery, it could be U2?


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=820100]Overbooking an already sold seat and not refunding the original customer is selling the same seat twice and not efficient or saving emissions because both pax need to travel.
    Dishonest by the airline whichever it is (UA or U2) and profiteering by deception.
    Travel on such an airline is a lottery, it could be U2?

    [/quote]

    Have a look at who started the thread 😉 I am absolutely against easyJet doing this, but having said that, you never have a guaranteed seat on any airline flight.

    WHat I would like to see is a surcharge of 100% (or more) on airlines when they do not follow EC261 to the letter.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Imagine that YOU are on standby/waitlist at an airport to get somewhere urgently, but the flight is fully booked. You are willing to pay a full fare.

    As the flight closes, the gate agent says : “We have an empty seat as one passenger who had a non-refundable fare has no-showed, but we can’t sell it to you as it’s already been paid for.”


    capetonianm
    Participant

    This little video is a bit simplistic for experienced business travellers but makes some valid points.


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    Those train companies which insist on compulsory reservations, like Eurostar and SNCF with its TGVs, solve the problem of last by having ‘tip down’ seats in the vestibules.

    It means passengers needing to travel at the last minute can be accommodated even though they will have to pay full fare.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    Well said Cedric.

    Nice video Capetonian. Explains it well.


    TominScotland
    Participant

    Easyjet are certainly on a bad run at the moment. I know the incident did not involve their employee but the headline will add to their current reputational challenges

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/easyjet-passenger-punched-by-airport-worker-in-france

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