With the establishment of the Air Passenger Bill of Rights in 2012, there has been no limit on the percentage that airline firms may overbook, according to a Civil Aeronautics Board representative on Wednesday.
During a Senate hearing on overbooking and offloaded passengers, CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla stated that overbooking, or the practice of selling more tickets than the available seats on a flight, was “a global practice” that allowed airlines to fill vacant seats of “no-shows.”
Arcilla stated that there was a 10% overbooking limit in place prior to the implementation of the APBR.
“When APBR was issued, nawala ang 10 percent limit. Ang perception, merong effective counterweight in the sense na ang compensation package pag nag-overbook ang airline ay deterrent for abuse,” Arcilla said.
Arcilla says overbooking has public interest values, such as decreased flight rates. Another option, he says, is to allow chance passengers to use the seats.
He added the APRB’s overbooking law is unique in that airlines may hunt for passengers who will volunteer to be offloaded from the flight in exchange for cash and other perks.
If there are no volunteers, Arcilla suggests that the airlines strengthen their offer until they find one.
However, he underlined that all passengers who booked their flights should not be refused the chance to check in, and that passenger offloading would take place only at the boarding gates.
Senate probes overbooking of airline companies
Senator Raffy Tulfo stated that a percentage should be offered for these airline firms’ overbooking mechanism.
“Halimbawa, no-show ka. ‘Di ba dapat non-refundable yon? Ba’t nago-overbook ang airlines kung ‘di refundable ang no shows?” Tulfo went on.
Arcilla stated that the CAB wants to reform the system as well, but that they would yield to the Senate’s judgment.
This policy has become a new “modus” in the airline industry, according to Senator Nancy Binay, who requested the investigation.
“Ang lumalabas ngayon parang nagkakaroon ng bagong modus e. Kasi nakita nga nila na sa overbooking malaki ‘yung kailangan nilang i-provide don sa passenger kaya ang ginagawa nila ngayon, three days before or four days before, sasabihan ka nila na cancelled ang flight mo,” Binay said.
“Siyempre kung asa ibang bansa ka, who will shoulder your hotel? Sa Air Passenger Bill of Rights, pag cancellation, napaka-minimal ng kailangan gawin ng airline—rebook, refund tapos bahala ka na sa buhay mo kung paano ka kakain at saan ka matutulog,” she added.
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