The airline was said to have offered the money to each
passenger who volunteered to disembark the aircraft Monday morning.
Inc. magazine tech columnist Jason Aten wrote that he was on
the flight with his family when a flight attendant asked for volunteers over
the intercom.
Aten said the airline was seeking eight volunteers to offer
their seats on the oversold flight, and that each volunteer would be given
$10,000.
"If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money
right now," the flight attendant said, according to Aten.
Aten told Fortune his group of eight did not take Delta up
on their offer because they were not immediately made aware how many volunteers
were needed.
"Had we known it was eight, we would have gotten
off," he told the outlet. "By the time that was clear, four or five
people had already left."
Another passenger confirmed Aten's claim about compensation
on Twitter.
"It’s a true story. I was on that flight!"
passenger Todd McCrumb tweeted in response to a tweet from Aten.
"Unfortunately, I could not take advance [sic] the offer, as I was flying
with my wife who has very limited eyesight. She has to have me nearby when
traveling."
McCrumb told KTVB 7 the offer began at $5,000 but would then
be increased to $10,000.
In a statement to The Hill, a Delta spokesperson would not
say if the incident took place, but they did state that there is compensation
for ground staff when circumstances like this occur.
"That compensation provides our employees with the
ability to ensure that our overbooked flights are able to take care of
customers and then ultimately dispatch or get our aircraft out on time,"
the spokesperson said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized in a LinkedIn post Thursday
for recent flight delays and cancelations.
"If you’ve encountered delays and cancellations
recently, I apologize," Bastian wrote. "We’ve spent years
establishing Delta Air Lines as the industry leader in reliability, and though
the majority of our flights continue to operate on time, this level of
disruption and uncertainty is unacceptable."