Alone among U.S. major carriers, JetBlue has a ‘no overbooking’ policy, and its CEO says it will stay that way. But it doesn’t mean the carrier never bumps a passenger, according to airline chief Robin Hayes.
Overbooking—the practice of selling more seats than a plane has, to compensate for no-shows—has been in the news a lot lately, especially after the well-publicized dragging of a United passenger off a plane. That incident, ironically, did not involve overbooking.
Despite JetBlue’s policy, it bumped just under one passenger per 10,000 last year, more than twice the rate for United, and ten times Delta’s rate. JetBlue says its denied boardings are less of a problem, because they result from changing a flight to a smaller plane, usually far enough in advance to avoid turning away passengers at the airport.
