Going forward, passengers buying air tickets will no longer have to hunt for overbooking warnings buried in small print in the corner of a webpage. If they are denied boarding because of overbooking, compensation will no longer be subject to vague, case-by-case negotiations. On August 31, after 10 airlines and five online ticketing platforms completed all required changes on schedule, the long-standing consumer “trap” of flight overbooking was finally brought into the open.
On September 8, consumer protection associations in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei announced that the 10 airlines and five platforms previously called in for joint talks had completed the required improvements. The airlines — Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Spring Airlines and Hebei Airlines — as well as Tongcheng, Trip.com Group, Fliggy, Qunar and Meituan, have each implemented four required measures covering the entire process, from ticket purchase disclosures and on-site handling to compensation, passenger arrangements and complaint resolution.
At the ticket-purchase stage, the biggest change is a shift from “passengers having to look for the information” to “passengers having to read and confirm it.” In the past, overbooking risk warnings were often displayed in pale, small text tucked away in a corner of the page. Now, airlines including China Eastern have incorporated overbooking rules into their disclosure systems across all sales channels, while Sichuan Airlines has placed the information in a dedicated top-level menu on its app and mini program.
Platforms including Trip.com have introduced dedicated mandatory pop-ups on booking pages. Passengers cannot proceed with their purchase until they click to read and confirm the information. Qunar has also launched dedicated educational content on airline overbooking to make the rules more visible and easier to understand.
On-site handling has also moved from a lack of standardized procedures to full documentation through the process. Airlines have established rules requiring them to first solicit volunteers to give up their seats and to prioritize certain passengers for boarding. Special identification markers are also used in their systems for passengers requiring special assistance with seats reserved in advance.
Hebei Airlines has established a system covering the entire overbooking process, while Juneyao Airlines has expanded the discretion available to frontline staff when handling cases on site. Platforms including Meituan have added fields for passengers to provide information about special assistance needs during booking, with the information transmitted to the airline system to ensure that no passenger is overlooked.
Compensation is also becoming more standardized, with passengers no longer having to haggle over payouts. Airlines are required to provide overbooked passengers with multiple solutions without charging change or cancellation fees, or any fare difference. Platforms have also begun clearly displaying compensation standards and appeal channels on order-detail pages and after-sales service portals. Xiamen Airlines requires staff to inform passengers of cash compensation options first, while Spring Airlines has incorporated meals, transportation and other support services into its “Overbooking Handling Manual.” Fliggy, meanwhile, has conducted customer-service case drills to ensure frontline staff are familiar with the procedures.
Complaint and feedback mechanisms have also become more transparent and traceable. Airlines and platforms have established dedicated records for overbooking complaints, with information-sharing systems linking the relevant parties and clearly defined deadlines for accepting, handling and responding to complaints. China Southern has upgraded its overbooking forecasting model to control overbooking rates at the source. Tianjin Airlines now requires staff to document every overbooking incident, while Tongcheng has added an appeal and feedback channel to its booking pages, allowing passengers to submit their requests with a single click.
