There’s a common practice in the airline industry in which a carrier will sell more tickets to a flight than passengers it can actually hold. This is called “overbooking.”
Why do they do this? As explained by Condé Nast Traveler, the reason is simple. Typically, there is a predictable number of passengers who, for one reason or another, will simply not show up to their flight. Rather than simply accept their money and have an empty seat, airlines will overbook a flight. This is in order to maximize their profits and not let a single seat go to waste.
