Some random, somewhat related thoughts after perusing these suggestions:
1. What I would be curious in is the bifurcation of IDB metrics by those who are IDB'd pre- and post-boarding (whatever the correct definition of boarding is). What I think will happen is airlines will continue their current minimalist approach while people are in the boarding area, and then for those rare times when people are on the plane and need to get taken off, change their policies to be more generous and try to solve the problem with VDB.
2. You bet your bottom dollar that every CoC will be revised to CYA the airlines on things like what constitutes boarding, etc. that were lacking in this case. They will probably make their CoC and other crucial policies are more available to both at the gate, and in-seat, while not necessarily promoting them a whole lot.
3. I think this event could potentially set an interesting precedent for how VDM compensation is determined in the event it needs to be offered to those on the plane. Whether the winning bid is set based on an auction, or the GA asking via the PA whether people are willing to take X dollars/vouchers, this only gets most flyers part of the way.
Some flyers are completely indiscriminate in their travel plans. In this case, placing the bid/taking the offer clears the situation and we move on. But what if the winning bidder will only take it if he stays in business class/gets upgraded. Or can do an 8 hour layover, but not an overnight? Normally this haggling occurs at the gate. Once VDB is needed of passengers on the plane, after this incident no one is going to dare leave their seat to walk to the gate desk and begin their negotiation.
Thus do we find ourselves in the situation where the GA, on the plane, needs a tablet setup that is as efficient as if he/she is working at the desk? Given how fun it is to try to sort out itinerary changes at the gate... I think there is a lot of improvement needed in systems across the board for this to come to fruition.
Now iterate enough times as people are not happy with their alternative itineraries. For a smaller plane it may be easier to just de-plane everyone before IDB-ing who they need to get the flight closed (if that is even possible now after this incident). Or do we set it so if your bid wins, you have to take whatever itinerary they give you?
3.a Again, I go back to part of point #1 about the percentage of IDB that occurs in the plane. Is all this time needed to iterate an auction worth it for an incident that occurs very infrequently?
4. I think one of the major issues that makes this such a bear to deal with is just how large these carriers are. I think IamBartman Air, with one gate at SFO, could easily have a policy for VDB compensation that is truly dependent on the situation at hand. This is because the employee making all decisions is located at ground zero.
I am not sure it is feasible for companies with tens of thousands of employees to give excessive latitude to deal with these kinds of situations. There are all hosts of potential problems: operational risk, fraud, etc. that are usually solved by implementing policies, frameworks, procedures, controls and audit functions. This standardization also engenders a unified image, as travelers should have a reasonable expectation of the process at hand.
Just imagine if Airport A was extremely generous with VDB offers, while Airport B did their auction in such a way that was much more stingy with compensation. As a corporate function, how do you even proceed to manage or forecast such an operation?
I think some of this could be eliminated with a proper escalation process, though that has its limitations. Firstly, it is only as good as its weakest link. If the GA does not convey the proper information to their supervisor, or if the supervisory is more worried about keeping the aircraft on time, then you will have these sorts of black swan events.
5. If the new paradigm for dealing with situations such as this is to spend more time and work with passengers to find the optimal solution, then I think there needs to be changes to airline fines for delays associated with determining VDB compensation.
Anyways, that's enough for now.