Marion

I've heard and read so many terrible things about Delta's bad and rude service, cramped seating, delays and many other things. That was after I had already bought 2 tickets to Germany!! This is my son's first time on a plane and I hope these bad experiences with Delta are only isolated cases. Are they??

Jason

Delta's flight attendants are embroiled in a fight with their "bean counter" uncaring management over union representation. However despite this fact, I don't believe that their service is that bad.<BR>In fact even though some airlines are much better than others in providing service to their customers, they all are at least "acceptable" and really bad flight experiences are few & far between.

Dan

To be honest, I notice very little difference among the various airline employees. For the most part, I'd say they are adequate at best. Even the airlines with reputations for good service (SAS, Aer Lingus, and Swissair) don't seem to be better than any of the others. Since many of the employees are older and impossible to get rid of, indifferent attitudes seem to rule the sky. I fly Delta a lot, their employees seem fine, but not great- just like every other airline. I will say that I havent flown Midwest Express in the US or Singapore. I hear their staffs are very good.

Rex

It's tempting to take this posting as not serious. But maybe it is.<BR><BR>Of course, they're not isolated experiences.<BR><BR>&lt;&lt;bad and rude service, cramped seating, delays and many other things&gt;&gt; are all part of air travel, on occasion - - and increasingly over the past decade.<BR><BR>You want the official government data on this?<BR><BR>from www.dot.gov/airconsumer/atcr01.htm<BR><BR>The Air Travel Consumer Report is a monthly product of the Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings. The report is designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of services provided by the airlines. This page was last updated on January 2, 2002, and the most recent data is from November 2001.<BR><BR>The report is divided into four sections. These sections deal with flight delays, mishandled baggage, oversales and consumer complaints. Each section of the report is preceded by a brief explanation of how to read and understand the information provided.<BR><BR>================================= ====<BR><BR>If you don't want to go look this stuff up, here's a quick overview:<BR><BR>For Nov 2000-Nov 2001, Delta was runner-up, only behind TWA (now gone) in on time arrivals.<BR><BR>For Nov 2001, they were almost at the bottom of the barrel for percentrage of flights canceled (American and American Eagle were worse).<BR><BR>For Nov 2001, they were second best in baggage problems reported, up from third best in Nov 2000, and below average for all airlines.<BR><BR>For Jul-Sep 2001, they were 6th of (the 11) majors for passengers denied boarding ("over-solds"), but still below average. This was worse than for the same period in 2000.<BR><BR>they had more complaints than a lot of other airlines (50) for Nov 2001, but there is no "normalization" for number of passengers who fly on each airline. The commonest complaints involved refunds.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Gretchen

There is something else going on among airline personnel right now. The service personnel are those with seniority--they kept their jobs when the younger enthusiastic FA's were furloughed. They could care less--we have noticed it on all the flights we have been on since September.

Rex

While I agree that this phenomenon has occurred, Gretchen - - it certainly happened with TWA personnel offered jobs when the acquisition by American went through - - does your comment relate specifically to Delta?<BR><BR>I just think that Marion has heard one or two anecdotes, and basing any psychologic reaction on those is silly.<BR><BR>How else was her son going to get to Germany? The worst air travel is a whole lot better than the best boat travel.<BR>

Barry

Hi Marion -<BR><BR>We live in Atlanta in a community where 40%+ of the households have at least one family member that works for the airlines... Delta being most common. I think it depends .... if you are flying domestic then yes, Delta could very definitely do a much better job. On transatlantic flights however Delta does a great job.... we have done 2 rt's in the last 18 months on Delta and they were wonderful.... one on Lufthansa and it was okay... and 2 on Air France, and if you really want to get aggravated just fly with them! Even in Business Class! It looks like they go out of their way to p--- you off!!! And if you fly Air France and have to use CDG as your gateway, *&%$#@ !!!<BR><BR>The only times I have ever been an "Ugly American" when traveling was flying in and out of CDG on Air France. That is the only time I have gotten the "if it wasn't for us you'd be speaking German" attitude!<BR><BR>Oh well.... anyway... our transatlantic experiences on Delta have been great! They just voted down the flight attendants union by 79% to 21% so that should settle that issue for a few more years and calm the cabin crews down a notch or two!<BR><BR>Best wishes for a great trip gt<BR><BR>Barry

Kendra

Hi Marion,<BR><BR>I agree with Barry that service/attitude is better on the international flights. I fly on Delta almost exclusively and on their domestic flights, the service is severely lacking, however, it's decent on international. I've always heard that Delta puts their best flight crews on international routes and that has been my experience.<BR><BR>If you can afford it, upgrade to Business Elite; it's wonderful!

Stephanie

I just cannot sit still on this one. I flew Delta to London in November. The treatment I received while traveling with my son was abominable. My luggage was not only lost in transit, it was broken into and new pieces of luggage torn up! The customer care was so rude and unhelpful, and there motto that day was pass the buck - well, the end is, after documenting the garbage they put me through and ending up dealing with their Texas office, I now have vouchers - wow, great incentive - vouchers to never be used - because I refuse to fly Delta again. In speaking with American Express Travel Agents and WTMI travel agents that are friends of mine, they agree, Delta is not the airline to fly if you want great service, they constantly listening to the complaints of their corporate travelers. All my flights were delayed...I was to arrive in London at 8:00 a.m. - I arrived in London at 5:00 p.m. Same for the trip home - service was satisfactory, but the flights were delayed.

Book Chick

I'm sorry for anyone who has a bad experience with any airline. (And who hasn't?)<BR><BR>My only experiences with Delta were on a couple of domestic flights 15 years ago to/from New Orleans and an international flight 3 weeks ago JFK-Rome round-trip. Both trips were very good, handled professionally & I encountered no problems. I have to return to Rome later this year for business, and I will try to fly Delta again, based on my experience with their last performance.<BR><BR>BC

Pamela

The US has labor laws which do not allow age discrimination. In Europe you see young women because of how the labor laws are structured.

joann

My 2cents:<BR>I fly Delta a good bit domestically - as of last week their mood was pretty good. I do think their coach class is among the worst but it seems from reading here that all coach is poor so I agree with the attitude - just think of where you're going and grit teeth to get through it.<BR>I do want though to stick up for Air France - this past summer we used Delta points for 3 business class seats D.C. to CDG/Paris and the staff was beyond delightful! I got a thrill, in fact: as we were about ready to take off from CDG for home, I realized the "clicker" that controls lights/movie etc had been ripped off by (evidently) the former passenger. Well, they assembled a team of 8 (head flight attendant, head mechanic, 5 more flight attendants, and then the pilot himself!) to look at it and say "Quel bizarre!" Finally, the pilot explained that it was a bad problem but can't hold up the flight, to long to fix, etc -- so, the doors close, we buckle up, and suddenly the head flight attendant is at my elbow again, with an invitation to join the pilot in the cockpit for takeoff as an apology! I was so thrilled!!! Listened in as we tooled around CDG's tarmac, marveled that they use a "joystick" thingy to takeoff in the Airbus, WOW! Then, they came back to me 8 more times during the flight to apologize!! I kept saying "noooo problem!" <BR>Anyway, experiences vary by person & days so, just as we had such a great experience on Air France, don't worry about a couple of anecdotal stories about particular airlines.<BR>(Just tell him not to recline his seat back - from the stories on this site, that brings vengeance!)

Dale

It seems that this type of anectdotal-based condemnation of this airline or that is a daily occurance on this board. I fly to Italy twice a year and on various carriers. The "plane" fact is: all trips are great or rotten depending on a myriad of circumstances unique to your flight. You roll the dice every time you board. Its that simple. Relax.

Carolyn

Joann -<BR><BR>They let passengers in the cockpit at takeoff?!!! So much for security . . .

Sue

I've flown Delta to Munich many times. The seats are no more cramped than any other airline except American. I think British Airways has the most cramped seats.<BR><BR>I've never had a problem with the service on Delta except on one flight. The light over my seat would not go out and I needed to sleep. It was the maiden flight for this aircraft so a mechanic was roaming around fixing things. I grabbed him to tell him about the light and he mumbled something about flipping the master switch. I freaked and asked the flight attendent for a couple bottles of wine.<BR><BR>Delta was my preferred airline until I experienced the seats on American. I won't be going back.....

service

Glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks those old FA hags have some major attitude. Their union and their age offers them complete tenure. It's obvious that they have no need to exert themselves in any fashion or to place customer service anywhere on their priority list. Why should they? Their jobs are protected. They're too often dismissive, surly and rude. And fat to boot. Old hags.

yyy

Maybe the flight attendants are fed up with dealing with sexist passengers who seem to think that women over 50 should be taken out and shot or something.<BR><BR>I agree with Dale, it's a crap shoot out there, at least as far as service is concerned. The only airline on which I have repeatedly had rude service is British Airways, yet most people rave about them. I've flown Delta a few times recently and haven't noticed that they are consistently worse or better than the rest. If you look at the online seat maps and seat dimensions, you'll see that the crowding in non-premium coach is pretty much the same across the board, with the exception of American.

Elena

Hey Stephanie,<BR>If you're not going to use those travel vouchers I will take them off your hands.<BR>Elena

xxx

Exemption from discipline or threat of termination certainly does seem to foster an atmosphere of indifference. Ask anyone who works in a union setting -- seniority is everthing. Unfortunately, it does relate to age, as older FAs have job seniority. Perhaps if they were subject to the same threat of layoff that their younger co-workers are, they'd try a little harder.

bill

I fly Delta/Air France almost exclusively and have had no problems with service or luggage. I haven't found any airline coach seats that are very comfortable, but with an inflatable back pillow and neck pillow, even a trip to Europe is ok.