South Africa's consumer watchdog said it was investigating overbooking and overselling at Flysafair (FA, Johannesburg or Tambo). The move comes after the company was widely criticized on social media for admitting its actions following consumer complaints.
National Consumer Commission (NCC) Acting Chairman Hardin Latsisus called on consumers to come forward and provide information that could assist the investigation. The airline admitted to overbooking on January 5 in response to criticism from passengers who arrived at the airport and were told there were no seats available on the tickets they paid for, sharing their frustrations on social media.
“We understand the importance of passengers arriving at their destinations on time on their paid flights, but in order to keep tickets as affordable as possible for our passengers, we are overselling our flights. We understand how inconvenient this is. Therefore, please provide compensation to passengers who are unable to take their booked flights,” Flysafair responded, prompting outraged consumers on social media. caused a storm.
The airline later apologized on its social media channels to all passengers who were denied boarding due to overbooking.
The NCAA will examine whether the airline complies with the provisions of the South African Consumer Protection Act (CPA), particularly with regard to overselling and overbooking, misleading marketing, unfair contract terms and consumer rights in the provision of services. He said he would evaluate it.
“We welcome the opportunity to provide clarity on this issue and ensure that our policies and practices are not only CPA compliant, but also the most transparent and consumer-focused in the industry. We remain confident in this,” Flysafair said in an official statement.
Still, the company said the overbooking was not unique to Flysafair and should not be addressed in the investigation, calling for the investigation to be fair and take into account the broader circumstances. He suggested that overbooking is a common practice used by all domestic and international airlines to manage operations, reduce the impact of no-shows, and keep air travel affordable. .
FlySafair said it was overbooked by up to 1% of capacity, which equates to up to two seats per flight. In the past 10 months, only 0.0006% of customers were denied boarding due to overbooking.
