Bumping, or getting taken off a flight on which you have a bona fide reservation and even a boarding pass, is happening more than you know.

But what do you really know about being bumped, and your actual rights when it happens?

First, being “bumped” from a flight you paid for is legal. The U.S. Department of Transportation says airlines oversell flights to a certain extent to make up for no-shows. But that doesn’t mean the airlines are great predictors. And then, someone, or a few people, get left at the gate.

In the first quarter of 2026, airlines bumped 5,599 passengers involuntarily and persuaded 75,738 to give up their seats voluntarily. That was out of more than 203 million boardings, or about 0.28 involuntary bumps per 10,000 passengers.

The involuntary bumps are concentrated in three airlines.