(Reuters) – United Airlines Holdings Inc <UAL.O> said on Monday that starting next week it will notify passengers ahead of time if their flight is expected to be “closer to full capacity,” allowing them to re-book on a different flight or receive a travel credit.
The new policy — which will last through June 30 and will also be applied at the gate if more than 70% of passengers have checked in — follows a photograph of what appeared to be a packed United flight on Saturday on social media.
United said 85% of its flights are less than half full, but given a drastically reduced flying schedule in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, “there are a small number of flights where our customers are finding planes fuller than they expect.”
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Sandra Maler)
