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Not having staff didn’t seem to stop them overselling what they can handle, however. They took a risk on stretching as far as they could go in an ideal environm

Not having staff didn’t seem to stop them overselling what they can handle, however. They took a risk on stretching as far as they could go in an ideal environment and here we are.

kulahan 4y ago
This is probably tied to how deeply ingrained the overselling habit is in the airline industry in general. They're legally protected when doing this, and it's why that doctor got dragged off that flight.
- dotancohen 4y ago
  > They're legally protected when doing this, and it's why that > doctor got dragged off that flight. To be clear, it was United that dragged a doctor off a plane. Not Southwest.
- givemeethekeys 4y ago
  Are you referring to that time that United dragged a doctor off a Toronto bound flight? God, I will never forget that.
  - dotancohen 4y ago
    That was a United flight, not Southwest. Southwest and Delta are the only two good US based airlines left.
- billh 4y ago
  Southwest does not overbook their flights as a matter of policy. https://www.southwest.com/help/changes-and-cancellations/overbooking https://www.southwest.com/help/changes-and-cancellations/ove...
  - friesandties 4y ago
    Proof appears to be in the pudding here. They absolutely overbook, all airlines do. Dated a few attendants over the years and they’ve all echoed similar experiences with folks being double booked especially so during this time of year. I’ve been bumped on a SW flight, got the extra travel voucher so it worked out. They absolutely do overbook.
    - toast0 4y ago
      If you read the linked faq, there's a difference betwen overbooking and overselling. If Southwest sells all the seats for a segment, but they end up flying the segment with a different plane than scheduled, there may be less seats than scheduled passengers. That's more likely to happen furong the holidays when flights are very full and weather delays are common and there's more equipment changes.
      - dolni 4y ago
        To me, that reads as a crappy distinction intended to inspire some pity for Southwest. The effect is the same either way. Someone paid for a ticket and they don't get to board the plane.
        pigbearpig 4y ago
        C'mon, there is a huge difference between an airline selling a seat they don't have and not having it due to an equipment issue.
        danaris 4y ago
        Or, to look at it from another perspective: The airline sold you something that they can't deliver because they refuse to keep extra planes around. They refuse to keep extra planes around because that would eat into profits, and would mean their execs wouldn't be able to buy their third gold-plated yachts.
        toast0 4y ago
        The difference is intent. Overbooking intentionally creates conflict likely to result in a ticketed passenger unable to board. Overselling also results in a ticketed passenger unable to board, but was not intentional; at least not directly intentional. You could argue flying planes with different capabilities offers the possibility to have a lesser plane subsituted and that's an intentional choice, but... Another way to think of it is what could an airline have reasonably done to avoid the situation? If it's overbooking, the reasonable thing is to not overbook. If it's overselling, they could choose not to fully book their scheduled equipment, but is that reasonable? They can't choose to have 100% reliable planes and crews and weather and ground operations. Stuff happens, and it's certainly reasonable to be upset when it does, but understanding why it happened can be helpful, so making a distinction between overbooking and overselling makes sense to me.
  - kulahan 4y ago
    Thank you for the correction here
jm20 4y ago
As a policy Southwest is one of (the?) only airline that doesn’t overbook flights. They only sell the seats they have. From a business perspective it would be dumb to not offer all those seats for sale. This is definitely their fault, but nothing like United pulling the doctor off the plane

Not having staff didn’t seem to stop them overselling what they can handle, however. They took a risk on stretching as far as they could go in an ideal environment and here we are.

kulahan 4y ago

This is probably tied to how deeply ingrained the overselling habit is in the airline industry in general. They're legally protected when doing this, and it's why that doctor got dragged off that flight.

dotancohen 4y ago
> They're legally protected when doing this, and it's why that > doctor got dragged off that flight. To be clear, it was United that dragged a doctor off a plane. Not Southwest.
givemeethekeys 4y ago
Are you referring to that time that United dragged a doctor off a Toronto bound flight? God, I will never forget that.
- dotancohen 4y ago
  That was a United flight, not Southwest. Southwest and Delta are the only two good US based airlines left.
billh 4y ago
Southwest does not overbook their flights as a matter of policy. https://www.southwest.com/help/changes-and-cancellations/overbooking https://www.southwest.com/help/changes-and-cancellations/ove...
- friesandties 4y ago
  Proof appears to be in the pudding here. They absolutely overbook, all airlines do. Dated a few attendants over the years and they’ve all echoed similar experiences with folks being double booked especially so during this time of year. I’ve been bumped on a SW flight, got the extra travel voucher so it worked out. They absolutely do overbook.
  - toast0 4y ago
    If you read the linked faq, there's a difference betwen overbooking and overselling. If Southwest sells all the seats for a segment, but they end up flying the segment with a different plane than scheduled, there may be less seats than scheduled passengers. That's more likely to happen furong the holidays when flights are very full and weather delays are common and there's more equipment changes.
    - dolni 4y ago
      To me, that reads as a crappy distinction intended to inspire some pity for Southwest. The effect is the same either way. Someone paid for a ticket and they don't get to board the plane.
      - pigbearpig 4y ago
        C'mon, there is a huge difference between an airline selling a seat they don't have and not having it due to an equipment issue.
        danaris 4y ago
        Or, to look at it from another perspective: The airline sold you something that they can't deliver because they refuse to keep extra planes around. They refuse to keep extra planes around because that would eat into profits, and would mean their execs wouldn't be able to buy their third gold-plated yachts.
      - toast0 4y ago
        The difference is intent. Overbooking intentionally creates conflict likely to result in a ticketed passenger unable to board. Overselling also results in a ticketed passenger unable to board, but was not intentional; at least not directly intentional. You could argue flying planes with different capabilities offers the possibility to have a lesser plane subsituted and that's an intentional choice, but... Another way to think of it is what could an airline have reasonably done to avoid the situation? If it's overbooking, the reasonable thing is to not overbook. If it's overselling, they could choose not to fully book their scheduled equipment, but is that reasonable? They can't choose to have 100% reliable planes and crews and weather and ground operations. Stuff happens, and it's certainly reasonable to be upset when it does, but understanding why it happened can be helpful, so making a distinction between overbooking and overselling makes sense to me.
- kulahan 4y ago
  Thank you for the correction here

jm20 4y ago

As a policy Southwest is one of (the?) only airline that doesn’t overbook flights. They only sell the seats they have. From a business perspective it would be dumb to not offer all those seats for sale. This is definitely their fault, but nothing like United pulling the doctor off the plane