Delta Fares

What constitutes "Involuntary Denied Boarding" to Delta Airlines?

I had a confirmed seat on "Flight X" on Delta, which was on a 50-seat regional jet. A few minutes before boarding, they told us there was a "gate change" and to go to another gate. When all passengers were at the new gate, it was announced that we were being put on a "new flight" to the destination, and it was given a new number. We'll call that one "Flight Y." Flight Y was on a 31-seat turbo-prop plane, and there were 45 people who had checked in on Flight X, all of whom were given boarding passes that said they were confirmed on Flight Y. I was one of those passengers. Flight Y boarded and departed, but I and 13 other passengers were denied boarding because there were not enough seats. Delta says I am not entitled to compensation because my flight was cancelled. I don't dispute that Flight X was cancelled, but I'm not trying to claim compensation on Flight X. My complaint is that they confirmed me on Flight Y (I still have my boarding pass which shows this) and then they denied me boarding on that flight. To me, this seems like "involuntary denied boarding" on "a flight which (I) have a confirmed reservation," making it eligible under DOT rules for involuntary denied boarding compensation. With all due respect, I'm not looking for people to answer with what they THINK Delta should do, or what they THINK I should do. I'm looking for answerers who can cite a source and tell me whether or not my situation constitutes "Involuntary Denied Boarding", and why or why not. Looking forward to awarding ten points to the best answer, whether I like that answer or not. :)

Public Comments

1. Sorry to hear that you had to go through that as yes, it does suck. Well, since you want brutally honest, here it is. Yes, you are correct in that you were Involuntarily Denied Boarding. The DOT states that airlines must do several things when this happens. The most frequent is getting you on a flight that arrives within two hours of your original planned route. Using your ticket on another partner airline. If those don't work, then they are required to pay you on the spot. However, the DOT also have "special" circumstances for regional carriers which you were on. This is where you are out of luck. Here is an excerpt from the DOT's policy: If the airline must substitute a smaller plane for the one it originally planned to use, the carrier isn't required to pay people who are bumped as a result. You never said why the flight was changed to a new plane. Don't let the Delta Express use this loophole to rob you from any compensation. Take your ticket stub and make copies of all of the information. Hound Delta until they give you some sort of travel voucher for future travel. I would assume that the swapped the plane due to a maintenance issue. There's not other excuse for switching to a smaller plane for any other reason. So while the agent was right to an extent, they didn't do the right thing to save face with customers. I always hook people up in this situation with a nice voucher, a distressed flyer for a hotel, and a meal voucher. Especially if the denied boarding was the airline's fault. If you don't press the issue, Delta will never give you anything.
2. Boarding Denied
3. yes that is an involuntary denied boarding because you are holding a confirmed ticket and boarding pass yet they deny you upon boarding. usually you should receive a compensation for that and Delta Airline should find ways to find the latest and earliest available flight to your destination. it is an overbooking problem with the Airline for they really do that for business. it is just that they overbooked the flight and their problem now is that all the booked passenger show up.Now what will they really do is to ask for a voluntary denied boarding,if not,they will chose who to ask for this involuntary denied boarding with a compensation and looked for the earliest possible flight to your destination.