Though vacations are usually thought to be exciting and relaxing times, lately, headlines about travel have been anything but. We’ve seen countless reports of lost luggage, pilots striking to protect their rights, and flights being cancelled, but according to a new report from Complex, one airline in particular has been going above and beyond to compensate for overbooked flights.
Passengers on board a Delta craft awaiting takeoff in Michigan at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport were recently offered $10,000 to give up their seats. Jason Aten, a tech columnist for Inc. magazine was one of the passengers on the Monday morning flight when he heard a crew member announce that they were seeking eight volunteers to hop off the overbooked trip in exchange for money.
“If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now,” patrons were told. Though the offer was tempting, Aten ultimately turned it down. “Yes, $10,000 is a lot of money,” he said of the hefty amount of cash Delta was willing to hand over.
“But it was clearly [a better option for them] than forcing eight people to miss their connections, ruining their plans. The people who volunteered did the math and decided that it was worth it to change their plans because, obviously, that is a lot of money.”
For any doubters out there, another Twitter user replied to Aten, confirming that he, too, was on the plane. “It’s a true story. I was on that flight!” Todd McCrumb wrote.
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“Unfortunately, I could not take [advantage of] the offer, as I was flying with my wife who has very limited eyesight. She has to have me nearby when travelling.”
In an interview with KTVB, McCrumb shared that Delta initially offered $5,000 before increasing to $7,500 and finally, $10K. “I look at my wife and go, ‘Honey, we gotta do this!’ She says, ‘No!’” he said, adding that he personally saw four people take the offer.
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for the airline simply told CBS News, “The ability to provide compensation on full flights empowers our employees’ efforts to care for customers and get aircraft out on time.”
[Via]