FlySafair faces investigation over overbooking: What you need to know

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) said it has initiated an investigation into the conduct of overbooking and overselling tickets by domestic low-cost carrier FlySafair.

The probe comes after an unsatisfied customer shared his unpleasant experience with FlySafair's practice of overbooking flights. 

"On this basis, the NCC has initiated an investigation into the conduct of overbooking and/or overselling by FlySafair to assess and review compliance with provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008," said the NCC on Wednesday.

X user Miles Nsala shared his frustrating experience of arriving at the airport, only to be told that the airline didn’t have seats available for the flight he had booked and paid for.

“So we show up at the airport, and @FlySafair says we don’t have seats for the same flight we paid for. If you have 200 seats, why take payments for 300 passengers?” he asks.

FlySafair responded by admitting that they overbook flights. They specified that this practice helps keep ticket prices affordable for their passengers. While acknowledging the inconvenience this may cause, the airline claimed to offer compensation to affected passengers.

“We do overbook flights to ensure we keep our tickets as affordable as possible for our passengers. We do see how inconvenient this can be and therefore offer compensation for passengers who were not able to take the flight they booked,” says the airline.

Consumers argue that this practice is inconvenient and question how the airline could adequately compensate someone who has missed an interview or other important commitments due to overbooking.

According to Section 47 of the Consumer Protection Act:

• Where a supplier fails to supply goods or services on an agreed date or time due to a shortage of stock or incapacity, the supplier must provide the same or equivalent goods or services to the consumer.
•  Alternatively, the supplier must refund the consumer all amounts paid with prescribed interest and incidental costs for breach of the agreement (unless the circumstances are beyond the supplier’s control and the supplier took reasonable steps to inform the consumer of the shortage or incapacity).

In light of FlySafair's statement that they compensate passengers, the airline does not appear to be in violation of the Act. However, it remains unclear how they implement compensation in their practice of overbooking flights.

FlySafair has since shared an article that, according to them, provides more context and clarity behind flight overbooking. They further emphasised their commitment to transparency and customer satisfaction.

The article, written by Forbes contributor Ben Baldanza, highlights why overbooking airline seats helps everyone when done correctly.

“Understanding overbooking and how this affects airline passengers reveals the practice as not only logical but desired,” he says.

He adds that every ticket sold is not a guarantee that the passenger will actually show up, which could be due to various reasons. Passengers might arrive late, get caught in a bar and miss the final boarding call, or be delayed in the security lane.

“Without overbooking, the airline would have more empty seats, and everyone would need to pay a higher fare to cover the costs of those empty seats,” says Baldanza.

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