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If you really dig, you may be incorrect. 30 years ago folks in first class paid the bulk, however, speaking to folks in first class these days, they are middle to lower management or sales reps getting bumped up with billions and billions (say it in the Carl Sagan voice) of priority points. Spoke to one drug rep who flies first class all the time with such points, has not paid for a ticket in ages.

I'm well aware of status and points. I was a points whore with 25-30 weeks of air travel per year for well over a decade. I've never bought a first class ticket, but have sat in the first class cabin often.

Regardless, I was referring to the overbooked seats, not the first class ones. The industry is on pace to set a record profit margin of about 5% this year, and that's based on extremely low fuel costs. Typical margins are razor thin, and depend heavily on filling the seats of no-shows. That's why overbooking isn't going anywhere.

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It was a crew, they do not have to go gate to gate, rentals, and similar security.

They do have to walk from gate to gate, and even a limo must pick them up in designated zones outside the airport. O'hare is not a small airport. In almost every airport, they enter through the same security checkpoint as you do (even though they don't have the same screening), and ride the same transportation between terminals.

It's a five hour drive, not including any travel delays through downtown Chicago, downtown Indy, and downtown Louisville. And it counts against union and FAA allowed flight time.

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Stewardess, gate people, or some lower priority staff?

It was a flight crew. It doesn't really matter if it was FA's or pilots, the FAA will not allow a plane to take off without either on board. They all had to get there, or the next flight wasn't going to go anywhere. It also doesn't matter if they were from another airline. Reciprocal agreements require you to handle the partner airline employees just as you would your own. It's good for the industry AND the customers.

I know everybody wants this to be simple, but it's not. It's a very complex, heavily regulated system, that is underappreciated by it's users. Involuntary removal is a remarkably rare occurrence.