§ Lord Inglewoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they consider it to be in line with good commercial practice for airlines to deny boarding to passengers who have bought a valid ticket; and whether they will inquire into Air France's policy of overbooking on some of its flights from Newcastle. HL5149]
§ Lord Davies of OldhamOverbooking is an accepted practice among full-service scheduled airlines. On any particular flight there is likely to be a proportion of passengers, mainly from those holding flexible tickets, who do not check in. On the basis of statistical 119WA evidence from previous flights, airlines estimate the probable number of no-shows and overbook accordingly. On the great majority of flights no passengers are denied boarding, and by reducing the number of empty seats overbooking keeps fares lower than they would otherwise be. This practice is widely accepted by passenger organisations and by regulators as being in the best interests of consumers generally.
In the comparatively small proportion of cases where denied boarding occurs, existing Community legislation requires Community air carriers to provide prescribed minimum levels of financial compensation, in addition to offering passengers a choice between re-routeing and reimbursement. One of the aims of the legislation is to incentivise airlines to estimate the numbers of no-shows accurately. In December 2001 the European Commission presented a proposal for a regulation to increase levels of compensation to passengers denied boarding, as well as to require the provision of assistance to travellers affected by cancellations for commercial reasons or delays. Political agreement on this proposal was reached at Transport Council in December 2002. Final amendments to the draft text were agreed during recent conciliation between the Council and the European Parliament. Subject to ratification of these amendments, the regulation will be published and, 12 months later, have direct application in all member states. It is not for the Government to inquire into Air France's booking practices.