AirAsia customers forced out of the plane due to 'overbooking'

AirAsia is back again in the spotlight and this time around, it involved a Malaysian family who was forcefully taken out of the plane due to 'overbooking'.

While overbooking issues are somewhat normal in the aviation industry (to reduce the risk of losses), the story of Susan Yong and what happened to her family in the middle of November was indeed full of drama and confusion. By the sounds of things, AirAsia has got some explaining to do.

Flight from KL to Chiang Mai, but botched

*Image credit: Sin Chew Daily

In a lengthy FB post by Susan Yong, she booked a flight back in April for her herself, her mother, and husband as well as his parents to fly out to Chiang Mai, Thailand on 16 November 2022. Six months in advance, so you would think that there wouldn't be any issues, right?

Well, upon arriving at the check-in counter, Yong was informed that the flight was overbooked and that they will arrange a different flight but it'll be on the next day. Yong denied the offer with the reason that she had already booked a hotel and rental car on the same day as their original flight.

The next set of events got more weird and anxious, but we'll break them down for you.

• Check-in staff offered a different flight at a later time (8pm) promising that they'll be in Thailand on the same day
• Yong then asked which destination, to which they answered Bangkok instead of Chiang Mai (almost 700km apart)
• For obvious reasons, the idea was declined. AA check-in staff then issued 'handwritten tickets' for Yong & husband to board the original flight
• Yong & family complied and proceeded to boarding gate
• AA staff at the service counter flipped through the handwritten tickets, and told the two that they were on the 'No Show' list but proceeded to assist in sorting out the seats
• By this time, all of them were already on board the plane went suddenly a male staff member ordered Yong & her husband to disembark with the reason that their 'handwritten' tickets don't count
• Yong's husband tried to explain the situation, but to no avail. Allegedly, the male staff called for backup and escorted them out of the plane
• Yong & husband managed to get the rest of the family to disembark as well
• AA proceeded with offering a flight to Chiang Mai for the next day + accommodation for the night + RM440 AA account credit (with expiry date)

Denied Boarding and Offloaded (according to MAVCOM)

Following this unfortunate turn of events, Yong proceeded to decline all compensatory offers and filed a police report. At this moment in time of writing, AirAsia has yet to release any official statements regarding the matter.

Above is more info when looking at the particular topic of 'Denied Boarding and Offloaded' by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM).