ATLANTA — A new report from the U.S. Department of Transportation detailing new statistics on air travel in the beginning of 2022 has revealed a large number of travelers had to be turned away from Delta flights due to overselling tickets.
The Air Travel Consumer Report showed that 23,689 passengers nationwide were denied boarding between January and March 2022.
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The Department of Transportation defines “denied boarding” as happening when “there are more passengers scheduled to fly on an airplane than available seats.”
By law, airlines are required to first ask passengers to give up their seats voluntarily for compensation in the form of money or vouchers.
All 23,689 passengers who were bumped from their flights were volunteers.
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During the same January to March timeframe in 2021, Delta only denied boarding to 2,892 passengers, meaning the 2022 rate rose more than eight times the original amount.
The report also shows that consumer complaints involving Delta also doubled in early 2022 to 245.
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All of this comes during a year when the air travel industry took a big hit with the price of gasoline significantly raising the price of flights.
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