Delta lures passengers off overbooked flight with $10,000 offer: Report

Ryan King

July 02, 01:52 PM July 02, 01:52 PM

Delta Air Lines had a sky-high offer for passengers on an overbooked Michigan flight bound for Minnesota this week — $10,000 to give up their seat, according to passengers.

Flight attendants offered the award over the intercom while passengers were boarding the plane. The company was looking for eight volunteers to disembark from the overbooked flight.

DELTA PILOTS PICKET NATIONWIDE AHEAD OF BUSY TRAVEL WEEKEND

"If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now," the flight attendant said, according to Inc. magazine tech columnist Jason Aten, who was on the flight.

Aten had been aboard with his family when they heard about the offer but did not immediately pursue it.

“The reason we didn’t jump on it was because they didn’t initially say how many volunteers they needed. Had we known it was eight, we would have gotten off. By the time that was clear, four or five people had already left,” Aten told Fortune.

Aten's account was corroborated by Todd McCrumb, who also claimed to have been on the flight.

"It’s a true story. I was on that flight! Unfortunately, I could not take advance the offer, as I was flying with my wife who has very limited eyesight. She has to have me nearby when traveling," McCrumb tweeted.

McCrumb told KTVB 7 that the company initially offered passengers $5,000 to give up their spot on the plane, but then it upped the price. A Delta spokesperson confirmed that the company offers compensation for overbooked flights, but declined to confirm whether the incident took place.

"That compensation provides our employees with the ability to ensure that our overbooked flights are able to take care of customers and then ultimately dispatch or get our aircraft out on time," the spokesperson told the Hill.

The Washington Examiner has reached out to Delta for comment.

G3 Box News

Ultimately, the plane departed 20 minutes later than scheduled, per Cirium’s flight tracker. The company has been mired with flight delays and cancellations in recent days as pilots picket over scheduling, pay, and retirement policies.

Flight delays have become a frequent occurrence over recent months as the airline industry grapples with pilot shortages. Some 6,611 flights into, out of, or within the United States were delayed Friday, and 558 were canceled ahead of the Independence Day weekend.