Why do airlines sell too many tickets? - Nina Klietsch
-
0:07 - 0:09Have you ever sat in a doctor's
office for hours -
0:09 - 0:12despite having an appointment
at a specific time? -
0:12 - 0:16Has a hotel turned down
your reservation because it's full? -
0:16 - 0:20Or have you been bumped off a flight
that you paid for? -
0:20 - 0:23These are all symptoms of overbooking,
-
0:23 - 0:25a practice where businesses
and institutions -
0:25 - 0:29sell or book more
than their full capacity. -
0:29 - 0:31While often infuriating for the customer,
-
0:31 - 0:34overbooking happens because
it increases profits -
0:34 - 0:38while also letting businesses
optimize their resources. -
0:38 - 0:41They know that not everyone
will show up to their appointments, -
0:41 - 0:42reservations,
-
0:42 - 0:43and flights,
-
0:43 - 0:47so they make more available
than they actually have to offer. -
0:47 - 0:51Airlines are the classical example,
partially because it happens so often. -
0:51 - 0:55About 50,000 people get bumped
off their flights each year. -
0:55 - 0:59That figure comes at little surprise
to the airlines themselves, -
0:59 - 1:04which use statistics to determine
exactly how many tickets to sell. -
1:04 - 1:06It's a delicate operation.
-
1:06 - 1:09Sell too few, and they're wasting seats.
-
1:09 - 1:13Sell too many, and they pay penalties -
-
1:13 - 1:18money, free flights, hotel stays,
and annoyed customers. -
1:18 - 1:22So here's a simplified version
of how their calculations work. -
1:22 - 1:24Airlines have collected years worth
of information -
1:24 - 1:28about who does and doesn't show up
for certain flights. -
1:28 - 1:31They know, for example,
that on a particular route, -
1:31 - 1:37the probability that each individual
customer will show up on time is 90%. -
1:37 - 1:39For the sake of simplicity,
-
1:39 - 1:41we'll assume that every customer
is traveling individually -
1:41 - 1:44rather than as families or groups.
-
1:44 - 1:50Then, if there are 180 seats on the plane
and they sell 180 tickets, -
1:50 - 1:55the most likely result is that 162
passengers will board. -
1:55 - 1:58But, of course, you could also
end up with more passengers, -
1:58 - 2:00or fewer.
-
2:00 - 2:03The probability for each value
is given by what's called -
2:03 - 2:05a binomial distribution,
-
2:05 - 2:08which peaks at the most likely outcome.
-
2:08 - 2:10Now let's look at the revenue.
-
2:10 - 2:12The airline makes money from each
ticket buyer -
2:12 - 2:15and loses money for each person
who gets bumped. -
2:15 - 2:21Let's say a ticket costs $250
and isn't exchangeable for a later flight. -
2:21 - 2:25And the cost of bumping
a passenger is $800. -
2:25 - 2:27These numbers are just for the sake
of example. -
2:27 - 2:30Actual amounts vary considerably.
-
2:30 - 2:36So here, if you don't sell
any extra tickets, you make $45,000. -
2:36 - 2:40If you sell 15 extras
and at least 15 people are no shows, -
2:40 - 2:44you make $48,750.
-
2:44 - 2:46That's the best case.
-
2:46 - 2:49In the worst case, everyone shows up.
-
2:49 - 2:5615 unlucky passengers get bumped,
and the revenue will only be $36,750, -
2:56 - 3:00even less than if you only sold 180
tickets in the first place. -
3:00 - 3:04But what matters isn't just how
good or bad a scenario is financially, -
3:04 - 3:07but how likely it is to happen.
-
3:07 - 3:10So how likely is each scenario?
-
3:10 - 3:13We can find out by using
the binomial distribution. -
3:13 - 3:19In this example, the probability
of exactly 195 passengers boarding -
3:19 - 3:21is almost 0%.
-
3:21 - 3:29The probability of exactly 184 passengers
boarding is 1.11%, and so on. -
3:29 - 3:32Multiply these probabilities
by the revenue for each case, -
3:32 - 3:34add them all up,
-
3:34 - 3:38and subtract the sum from the earnings
by 195 sold tickets, -
3:38 - 3:44and you get the expected revenue
for selling 195 tickets. -
3:44 - 3:47By repeating this calculation
for various numbers of extra tickets, -
3:47 - 3:51the airline can find the one likely
to yield the highest revenue. -
3:51 - 3:55In this example, that's 198 tickets,
-
3:55 - 4:00from which the airline will probably
make $48,774, -
4:00 - 4:03almost 4,000 more than without
overbooking. -
4:03 - 4:06And that's just for one flight.
-
4:06 - 4:09Multiply that by a million flights
per airline per year, -
4:09 - 4:12and overbooking adds up fast.
-
4:12 - 4:16Of course, the actual calculation
is much more complicated. -
4:16 - 4:20Airlines apply many factors
to create even more accurate models. -
4:20 - 4:22But should they?
-
4:22 - 4:25Some argue that overbooking is unethical.
-
4:25 - 4:28You're charging two people
for the same resource. -
4:28 - 4:31Of course, if you're 100% sure
someone won't show up, -
4:31 - 4:33it's fine to sell their seat.
-
4:33 - 4:37But what if you're only 95% sure?
-
4:37 - 4:3975%?
-
4:39 - 4:44Is there a number that separates being
unethical from being practical?
- Title:
- Why do airlines sell too many tickets? - Nina Klietsch
- Speaker:
- Nina Klietsch
- Description:
-
View full lesson on ed.ted.com: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-airlines-sell-too-many-tickets-nina-klietsch
Have you ever sat in a doctor’s office for hours, despite having an appointment? Has a hotel turned down your reservation because it’s full? Have you been bumped off a flight that you paid for? These are all symptoms of overbooking, a practice where businesses sell or book more than their capacity. So why do they do it? Nina Klietsch explains the math behind this frustrating practice.
Lesson by Nina Klietsch, animation by Anton Trofimov.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 05:00
Tomoyuki Suzuki commented on English subtitles for Why do airlines sell too many tickets? | ||
Jessica Ruby approved English subtitles for Why do airlines sell too many tickets? | ||
Jessica Ruby accepted English subtitles for Why do airlines sell too many tickets? | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for Why do airlines sell too many tickets? | ||
Jennifer Cody edited English subtitles for Why do airlines sell too many tickets? | ||
Jennifer Cody edited English subtitles for Why do airlines sell too many tickets? |
Tomoyuki Suzuki
00:03:28,738 I think 'revenue' should be replaced by 'loss'.