by for the first leg of a three-flight, international journey (Scotland to Utah.) If they're overbooked, why not just put someone on standby who doesn't have connecting flights and an already-lengthy itinerary? Drop them on the next flight, and they're at their destination an hour or two later. But now we're facing multiple ripple effects.

We were already looking at a late arrival in SLC, tonight. Now I'm very dubious that we get there today, at all. Why can't the airlines get these simple logistics right?