A video posted to TikTok has shown people leaving a Delta Airlines flight en mass to receive a $1600 cash offer as the flight was too heavy.
Sports reporter Natalie Bode posted the video to her profile with the caption, “Never seen people move so quickly out of an airplane but I respect it.
Overbooking on flights is not uncommon with many airlines selling extra tickets to cover themselves in the case of travellers failing to show up or cancelling flights last minute, often meaning carriers will offer incentives to take a later flight.
@nataliebode Never seen people move so quickly out of an airplane but I respect it
Incentives are generally offered in the form of flight credits, however in this case, Bode confirmed the incentive was an offer of cold hard cash!
“It’s an Amex gift card or direct upload to Apple Wallet,” she wrote.
“So many people ran they (Delta) didn’t have any left to redeem and turned people away.”
Delta just offered $1600 PER PERSON to get off of the flight from Vegas to Atlanta because of the heat index…. has anyone ever heard of getting this much $$$ to switch flights? 😂
— Natalie Bode (@nataliedbode) July 3, 2023
Delta Airlines needed people to leave the plane due to the ‘heat index’, which becomes an issue when the outside temperature is too high and the air is too thin, meaning the flight can become too heavy to take off.
A statement from Delta described the offering as a win-win for passengers and employees.
“The ability to provide compensation for volunteers to take later flights when a flight is full empowers our employees’ efforts to care for customers and to ensure on-time departures,” the statement, read.
