The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has confirmed it will take further action against FlySafair over overbooking complaints.
The NCC announced on Thursday that it would refer the airline to the National Consumer Tribunal for contravening the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
An NCC investigation into FlySafair was launched in January 2025 after consumer backlash to a social media post.
The airline let slip on its X account that “we do overbook flights to ensure we keep our tickets as affordable as possible”, in response to a customer’s complaint.
“We do see how inconvenient this can be and therefore offer compensation for passengers who were not able to take the flight they’ve booked,” the 5 January 2025 post elaborated.
Breaches of the CPA
The NCC stated that its investigation found FlySafair in contravention of seven provisions of the CPA.
These clauses relate to the overselling of services, misleading representations, failure to provide services on agreed terms, and unconscionable conduct, among others.
“The NCC’s investigation has found FlySafair’s booking practices to be inconsistent with multiple sections of the CPA, which is the basis of the referral of the matter to the tribunal.
“The CPA prohibits suppliers from taking consumers’ money for goods or services they cannot provide,” stated NCC Acting Commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu.
FlySafair could face an administrative penalty of 10% of the airline’s turnover, as recommended by the NCC.
Customers complained that, upon checking in at an airport, they were informed that seats were unavailable due to overbooking.
Investigators assessed bookings made between November 2024 and January 2025, deeming the airline to have “systematically implemented” the overbooking and overselling of flights.
“The investigation further revealed that overbooking averaged up to over 5 000 passengers in the months assessed, earning the airline significant revenue that it would not have earned if it were not for this practice.
FlySafair defiant
The airline responded to the referral by defending the practice of overbooking.
It said that while 5 000 of its passengers were on overbooked flights, only 0.02% of those were inconvenienced.
“FlySafair believes that it operates one of the more conservative overbooking policies in the market, with overbooking levels maintained below historical no-show rates.
“Overbooking is widely used by airlines globally as a mechanism to account for anticipated no-show passengers, improve operational efficiency and help keep air travel affordable,” the airline stated.
The airline stated that the tribunal was the appropriate forum to decide the “differences in legal interpretation” made by the NCC, and welcomed the opportunity to present its case.
“As the matter is now before the tribunal, it would not be appropriate to litigate the detailed merits of the case through the media, and FlySafair will therefore refrain from further substantive public comment at this stage,” FlySafair concluded.
