...and no overbooking?
From the Daily Mail(18/7):
"AN AIRLINE is to ban the practice of bumping passengers off deliberately overbooked flights. British European says it will offer more flexible tickets and introduce 'late deals' to ensure there are no empty seats on aircraft.
Every year thousands of travellers with reservations are unable to board flights because more tickets have been sold than there are seats. The airlines say they do this because some passengers will simply not turn up. But problems occur when computer generated predictions of the number of 'no shows' overestimate.
Customers are normally offered compensation or free tickets but it can mean missed appointments and connectionsand a wait for another seat. The practice affects both long-haul and short-haul flights and has long been a contentious issue in Britain and the United States.
British European, relaunching itself as flybe, says it is trying to give passengers a better deal in response to competition from low- cost airlines. It claims other carriers will have to follow. Under regulations being considered by the EU passengers denied their seat could soon claim up to pounds 1,000 compensation.
The EU is also looking at introducing American style statutory leaguetables of so- called 'bump-rates', designed to name and shame the worst airline offenders