You are at the airport excited about your trip. Then, the dreaded ax falls: no your flight is not delayed, although in the current context that wouldn’t be such as bad development. Rather, the flight is overbooked and the airline is calling for volunteers to take another, later flight. No volunteers? No problem, the airline selects its own. The result? A late flight - with several somewhat grumpy travelers plus one or two who are absolutely furious at the inconvenience. Delta is addressing this issue with technology that has been a success online: an auction in which travelers name the price at which they are willing to relinquish their seat. The system has been running since last month, according to the Wall Street Journal. Passengers who check in with Delta online or at kiosks type in the dollar amount they would accept to be bumped from their flight. Delta then accepts the lowest bids.