Some airlines have almost eliminated the practice caused by overbooking since police dragged a passenger off a United plane
But now several carriers are essentially eliminating bumping and finding that it’s barely making a dent in their revenue. Airlines say better forecasting of demand for seats on each flight, along with better tools to proactively reroute passengers from flights that actually are overbooked, have allowed them to curtail bumping without losing money.
When college football bowl games are announced, for example, Delta knows there will be fewer no-shows for flights to cities with games than historical models might have predicted. “From a data science perspective, we’re a lot smarter about it,”