[Vocabulary] put on standby....

[englishlearner77]

What does this sentence mean?

He was put on standby for the flight to London because it was fully-booked.

 

[emsr2d2]

Many airline employees are entitled to "standby" tickets. It means that if a seat is available on a flight, they can have it but if the flight is full, they have to wait for the next available flight.

 

[Rover_KE]

ems's remark also applies to passengers, as well as employees.

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, sorry, I failed to point out that some airlines will allow you to buy a standby ticket for a particular fully-booked flight. If someone cancels or doesn't turn up for the flight, the person with a standby ticket might get on the flight. Of course, there might be a lot of people with standby tickets and they are dealt with in order of priority (usually, the first person who bought a standby ticket would be at the top of the list etc).

 

[SoothingDave]

All airlines in the US will "oversell" their flights.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think most international airlines in the UK do, but I don't think the budget ones do (Easyjet, Ryanair etc). I've never heard of anyone (except presumably staff) getting a standby ticket on them.

 

[Tdol]

All airlines in the US will "oversell" their flights.

It's a common practice, which surprises me as I assumed that people would always take flights having bought tickets, but this appears not to be the case.

 

[SoothingDave]

If you are in an unpredicatable business, it is not so strange. If you are sent somewhere to fix a problem, it might take you longer than you had originally planned. So you won't fly home on the original flight. That is why they sell tickets that are refundable.