Delta ups the ante on giving up your seat

Delta is letting employees offer customers almost $10,000 in compensation to give up seats on overbooked flights, hoping to avoid an uproar like the one that erupted at United after a passenger was dragged off a jet Sunday evening.

In an internal memo obtained Friday by The Associated Press, Delta Air Lines said gate agents can offer up to $2,000, up from a previous maximum of $800, and supervisors can offer up to $9,950, up from $1,350.

United is reviewing its own policies, 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 offering 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.

As a result, it had the lowest rate among the largest U.S. airlines of bumping people off flights against their will — something that is legal but alienates customers.

Overselling flights is a fact of life in the airline business. Industry officials say it is necessary because some passengers don't show up, and that overbooking keeps fares down by reducing the number of empty seats.

The practice has been questioned, however, since a 69-year-old man was violently dragged off a soldout United Express flight over the weekend. He and three others were ordered off the plane after four airline employees showed up and demanded seats so they could be in place to operate a flight the next day in Louisville, Kentucky.

It has turned into a publicrelations nightmare for the entire industry, not just United, and led to calls from politicians and consumer advocates to suspend or ban overbooking.