Delta OKs offffffffffffers of up to $9,950 for seats

Company’s policy aimed at reducing forced bumping.

Delt a i s letting employees offer customers almost $10,000 in compensation to give up seats on overbooked flights, hoping to avoid an u p r o a r l i ke t h e o n e t h a t erupted at United after a passenger was dragged offff a jet.

I n a n i n t e r n a l m e m o obtained Friday, Delta Air Lines said gate agents can offffffffffffer up to $2,000, up from a previous maximum of $800, and supervisors can offffffffffffer up to $9,950, up from $1,350.

United is reviewing its own polic ies, including incentives for customers, and will announce any actions by April 30, a spokeswoman said. The airline would not disclose its current compensation limit.

Other airlines did not immediately comment on whether they would raise their ceiling.

When there aren’t enough seats, airlines usually ask for volunteers by offffffffffffering travel vouchers, gift cards or cash.

Last year Delta got more passengers to give up their seats than any other U.S. airline, partly by paying more than most of the others. It had the lowest rate among the largest U.S. airlines of bumping people offff flflights against their will — something that is legal but alienates customers and requires the airline to pay compensation of up to $1,350 per person.

Overselling flflights is a fact of life in the airline business. Industry offifficials say that it is necessary because some passengers don’t show up, and that overbooking keeps fares down by reducing the num- ber of empty seats.

T h e p r a c t i c e h a s b e e n questioned, however, since a 69-year-old man was violently dragged offff a sold-out United Express flflight over the weekend. It has turned into a public-relations nightmare for the entire industry and led to calls from politicians and consumer advocates to suspend or ban overbooking.

Ben Schlappig, a travel blogger who fifirst wrote about the Delta compensation increase, said it shows Delta is trying to reduce forced bumping. He said he couldn’t imagine many situations in which people wouldn’t jump at nearly $10,000.

Delta no doubt hopes that gate agents and their supervisors won’t need to make maximum offers, and the fifinancial cost to the airline is likely to be limited. If Delta paid $9,950 to every person it bumped involuntarily last year the compensation would total 12 million. Delta earned nearly $4.4 billion.

Raising the limits “lets them solve some PR problems” and might head offff U.S. Transportation Department regulations to curb overbooking, said another blogger, Gary Leffff. “They can say, ‘Look, we’re already solving the problem.’”

Government data shows that in 2015 and 2016, Delta paid an average of $1,118 in compensation for every passenger that it denied a seat. Southwest Airlines paid $758, United 565, and American Airlines $554.

After the incident in Chicago, critics questioned why United didn’t offffffffffffer more when no passengers accepted the airline’s $800 offer for volunteers to give up their seats.

“If you offffffffffffer enough money, even the guy going to a funeral will sell his seat,” said Ross Aimer, a retired United pilot.