Govt makes seat allocation in airlines mandatory

GoanCanuck

Govt makes seat allocation in airlines mandatory

PTI[ TUESDAY, MAY 01, 2007 06:15:17 PM]

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday made it mandatory for airlines to allocate seat numbers to passengers, a move that will particularly help people travelling from low-cost carriers such as Air Deccan.
A few low-cost carriers were so far not allotting specific seat numbers to passengers but giving them out on a first-come, first-served basis
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/1985825.cms

crvlvr

I think this is another BS rule by the govt.. Carriers don't allot seats as it motivates the passengers to board quickly and the airlines to get the plane on the air on time. A crucial factor for low cost airlines.

barodian

The government are requiring airlines to set seat numbers because of the overbooking lot of airlines do, specially low rate airlines. The seat number assignment will deviate overbooking to be minimal.

edwardseco

I think Barodian has it right. This is a response to the tricks being employed by Deccan..

Digital Drifter

Correct. CNN-IBN ran a story that after repeated complaints, the DGCA (FAA equiv.) has told ALL carriers that seat allocation must be printed on the tickets and a proper passenger manifest be submitted/maintained.

Because of overbooking, the passenger manifest at take off is not accurate and is not revised too when submitted to the DGCA. This is crucial in times of accidents and a security violation too as no one knows who is on the flight.

It makes it difficult for carriers to offload passengers for no reason.

at least that's the idea.

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shahronakm

I think it's a good move. I have travelled with Air Deccan many times & have seen people rushing to take window seats. I think a good move.

Infact Air Deccan management was thinking of alloting seats which I read in their Feb. magazine.

Ronak.

Sadanand Kamath

If I remember correctly, South-West Airlines - a low cost airline in USA - does not allot seats but it does allot Zones within which the passengers are expected to occupy seats. Passengers are made to enter the plane Zone-wise. I found this system to be smooth and fast. I feel this system can be followed to the satisfaction of both the Air Deccan and DGCA.

Sadanand

barodian

Southwest Airlines is very efficient at what they do. I do not recall them ever overbooking flights. They are very keen on collecting data for destination, origination, occupany level and so on. For example, in San Jose, California they fly to Los Angeles (LA), California every 15 minutes or so on Monday thru Fridays. While other destination which does not have high demand are flown few times a day.

They are able to keep their overhead cost low because they provide themselves only 15 minutes window to exit and enter passengers. They have very friendly staff at the boarding gate and in the flights.

I have only seen Jet Airways to give good customer service and are good at getting to the destination on time. But, the experience from boarding too exiting is not that great.

crvlvr

Point and Case: Southwest does not have seat assigned numbers either. If thr govt want to prevent the airlines from overbooking, they should simply levy a heavy penalty for any passenger left dstarnded with a confirmed ticket (with or without seat numbers). I believe they have already done so for cancelled flights. the airlines have to pay Rs10,000 per passenger.

barodian

Southwest ONLY flies in the U.S. they can not be governed by India. I totally agreee with fining airlines who overbook regardless of their parent company or origination, while travelling internationally. But, domestic flights can only be controlled by the domestic country.

I believe Jet Blue, in the U.S. have known to overbook. Correct me if I am wrong.

The negative aspect about fining airlines is that they will eventually trickle their fine to the consumers who purchase their tickets. Fair competition should should eliminate the hefty price increase but it won't control the $2 or $3 difference in pricing to cover the cost of the fines.

Airlines like Air Deccan should be doing extensive research on consumer patterns and adjust their flight schedules accordingly. This way, they would be able to maximize their profit, eliminate overbooking and intangibly improve customer experience.

matt67

I was told that the industry standard is sometimes 30% no shows on long haul routes. you have to remember that travel agents around the world make bookings for seats and hold it for you. They say that the booking is valid for a couple of days....(when 500 traevl agents hold seats thats a lot of seats held for a single flight from around the world). The travel agents ask for a payment and even after you have made the payment, they dont relase the money to the airline for a few weeks (interest in the bank). So teh airline does not know if all thsoe seats booked are going to result in a payment or not. hence the industry standard of about 30% overbooking.......for long haul flights.

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ba9rn

Overbooking is standard practice in the airline industry. ALL airlines do it to some extent. They have to balance no-shows with the (economic) need to have full planes. It is not an exact science of course, but most of the time it will not be obvious to you. And no, Barodian, you will not 'eliminate' overbooking. Nice idea, but unlikely.

Another way to avoid the overbook is to deny no-shows any refund. Most budget airlines will only refund if the cancellation is their fault.

So you pay you money and take your choice.

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crvlvr

Don;t know where you got the idea the the indina govt ahouls fine southwest. all i was stating is that overbooking problem can be solved by fining/penalties and not by allocating seat numbers.

In the US, once all the seats are sold and monies collected, additional seats are sold as Standby. Which means you are refunded the full money if you do not fly. If there are no shows, 10-15 mins before the flight departure, a call is made for any passengers with stanby tickets and they are allowed to board. We have to keep min mind this is extra profit for the airlines as the tickets that have already been paid for by the no-shows are being re-sold to the stand-by passengers.

Occasionally passengers may be bumped if the flight is canceled or the passenger arrives too late at the gate. In that case, their are strict rules that the airlines must follow.

ddevadatta

Keeep the grubby hands of govt out of this. Like that will help.

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rajiveanand

Now this is annoying. Just makes it more difficult to meet interesting people when travelling alone!

R.

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