United Airlines awarded nine passengers $10,000 each in travel voucher compensation Saturday after being forced to use a plane with a reduced number of business class seats.
According to CNN, United had to use a Boeing 767-300 aircraft on its Newark-to-Hawaii route instead of the typical Boeing 777, forcing nine passengers from business class to the Premium Plus cabin.
To make up for the abrupt changes on the 11-hour plus direct flight, United awarded the impacted travelers a total of $90,000 worth of travel voucher compensation. The airline confirmed the changes, but did not reveal how much each passenger was awarded.
“Occasionally we have to change aircraft at the last minute and when that happens, we try to do the right thing and make the impact to customers as minimal as possible,” United spokeswoman Maddie King told CNN.
United was likely trying to avoid the issues associated with bumping passengers—just ask David Dao Duy Anh—as travelers who are involuntarily removed from a flight due to overbooking are entitled to compensation, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
A recent study of voluntary and involuntary denied boardings (IDBs) determined the top U.S. airlines that have the highest rates of bumped passengers.
Frontier Airlines leads the way with 6.28 passengers bumped per 100,000, followed by Spirit Airlines, Alaska Airlines, regional carrier PSA Airlines and American Airlines rounding out the top five. Delta Air Lines was ranked as the most reliable U.S. airline with just 22 IDBs despite a volume of more than 138 million passengers in 2018.
