Originally Posted by
Widgets
That’s the trade off. Drop someone else’s seat and upgrade me when I’m at the gate and it’s close to departure, but don’t drop my seat if I’m on the other end of that situation and trying to run to the gate from a late flight. I don’t see a winning solution for everyone here.
Part of the problem is the app auto-checkin. I end up not taking about 1 in 10 flights and realize it before it's too late to cancel, so in the past I just wouldn't check in. Now I can't use the app without first checking in (or at least it's a real pain to do it). Delta has knowledge of a connecting flight (and whether it is possible for someone to make their connection), but has no way to know whether a person who is originating is going to make their flight (while I don't advocate it, it would almost be nice of the TSA boarding pass scanners fed into the airline's system - if they haven't cleared security at T-15, they can be safely bumped from the flight).
As such, auto-checkin means a lot of people who aren't going to take a flight makes it look like they are.