I like the Economist's solution to the overbooking flights problem:
"pay fair compensation to any volunteers willing to rebook onto a later service. And what counts as fair? Let the market decide. If flyers are not tempted by a carrier’s 1st offer, keep raising it until someone bites. If that price is many times the cost of the original ticket, so be it."
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2017/04/when-ticket-not-enough
@iain they already do that though; by US law, compensation for *involuntary* cancellation starts at 400% of the ticket's value, up to a cap of $1350. they make money off volunteers, but even then, it's likely at a loss, especially when you factor in the costs of moving passengers around and lost customer loyalty.
The issue with overbooking is the logic of maximizing profits; under that guidance, there's no reason for airlines (or other industries) to stop the practice.
