United, Delta and American Airlines adjust overbooking policies

Immediately following its recent crisis—in which a passenger was forcibly removed after refusing to give up his seat—the airline said that it needed the seats to accommodate its commuting crew members. After no one volunteered, the airline’s crew chose seats at random to rebook on another flight.

Now, United’s commuting staff and crew will now be required to check into their flights 60 minutes prior to departure.

United’s spokeswoman, Maggie Schmerin, said in a statement:

This [policy change] ensures situations like flight 3411 never happen again. This is one of our initial steps in a review of our policies in order to deliver the best customer experience.

The new policy would avoid the scenario of anyone being removed from a plane once seated, but it does not prevent someone from being bumped from a flight they purchased.

Competitor airlines quickly followed suit, probably hoping to avoid a similar scenario.