On the first point, as a practical issue, this is now almost certainly the case.

On the second, I am not sure what you are saying. IDB comp is neither a floor nor a cap, it is a set amount owed if you are forced off, The "cap" issue has to do with VDBs, where you offer to get off for some compensation. That is a negotiated deal between the parties, and there should be no reason for DOT to be involved.

There is no DOT cap on this, airlines can pay whatever.

And a floor would be bad. If I want to accept a modest VDB to get on a flight that is better for me, why should I be barred from this option? Instead you suggest the airline and I can not make a mutually beneficial deal.

IDB with huge inconvenience is an unusal business model not seen so commonly in the other industries. (Hotels dont leave you homeless)

Airlines have argued that they overbook because many flex pax dont show up (there are also genuine cases of missed connections, etc.). When flex pax doesnt show up they lose revenue. (However they never lose revenue on non-ref pax not showing up)


Suggestions:

a) Airline must have exhaused all cash offers on VDB before going to IDB
b) each IDB should involve penalty to DOT as well very high comp to affected pax (5000 + twice the total cost of the entire ticket)
c) Put pax IDBed on first possible flight (own or competitor's) even if that flight is full
d) Leave along pax with non-refundable tckets. They alredy made commitment and were willing to lose money for not showinng up. IDB if needed should be from pax who hold flexible tickets.

That's truly impossible though. We ALL have a price that would get us off the plane. I mean, for the amount of money that Bill Gates or Warren Buffett have, is there ANYONE that wouldn't do it? Some people will have absurdly high amounts of money that would be required to get them off the plane. That's fine, that's an indication that they really don't want to be booted. And in any large group of people, some people's offers will be very reasonable, in the few thousand dollar range at most, and much more likely, a few people will say they'll get off the plane for a few hundred.

There's no need for IDB. If the flight is going and needs to leave some people behind, you can get enough volunteers by asking people what their price is and picking the lowest ones. Because we all will get off the plane for some price.

They're so pathetically low that they aren't much disincentive to IDB, as UA3411 has proven, where the made only a brief token effort at VDB.

IDB has a set amount of either 2x to max of 675$ or 4x fare to max of 1350$ depending on length of delay. I'd like to see a floor of 675$ or 1350$ adjusted each year for inflation. That is for IDB not VDB.

If you want to go for a modest VDB (not IDB) not a problem that's between you and the airline.

We need a mandatory law, required by Act of Congress, compensation structure as follows

Price of Ticket:

$100 or less --NO LIMIT
$101-599 --NO LIMIT
$600-1349 --NO LIMIT
$1744-2001 --NO LIMIT

Amount of Delay:

60 seconds or less --NO LIMIT
1-1/2 hours --NO LIMIT
3.6 hours -- NO LIMIT
over 7 hours --NO LIMIT

Status of Passenger

Gold --NO LIMIT
Silver --NO LIMIT
Bronze --NO LIMIT
Kryptonoum --NO LIMIT
DYWKIA --NO LIMIT

Type of Ticket:

Paid with $$ --NO LIMIT
Paid with voucher --NO LIMIT
Half price --NO LIMIT

Other factors

# of cars in your driveway --NO LIMIT
# of FF posts in the past year --NO LIMIT
# of intelligent FF posts in the past year --NO LIMIT
"I'm a doctor" --NO LIMIT

*NOTE For any situation not specified above, require a US Senator or Member of House of Representatives be stationed at each Commercial airport in the country to arbitrate disputes

Huh? The IDB compensation is infinite, meaning one IDB and you go out of business? :confused:

No because the amount of money it takes to get a person off the plane is finite, in practice. And you're talking about just getting the lowest bidder off the plane.