klam_chowder

This morning's 9:30 a.m. flight from JFK to BUF was cancelled due to mechanical problems. There were 3 later Delta flights going JFK to BUF.

My DH had called his BUF contact and let them know he was told to go on a Delta bus, ETA 6 p.m. Original flight ETA was 11:15 a.m.

After I did not hear from my DH a couple of hrs after their ETA, I called Delta to find out what had happened to the passengers, as I needed to make arrangements for my DH's arrival in BUF. Delta agents were unable to tell me anything - they did not know when the bus left, whether it arrived, or even whether my DH was on a plane or bus or ??, etc. I had called a few times earlier and told to wait an hour and call back.

By 9 p.m. I called again and refused to be dismissed off the phone, I wanted to know if the bus had arrived (I began thinking the worse!). I was on the phone with a rep for over an hour as they tried to find someone who knew anything about the bus.

The bus finally arrived after 10 p.m. - the flight was to leave at 9 a.m. so the trip took about 13 hours. I don't know what the passengers did for food.

I don't know why Delta did not put the passengers on their later flights as I was able to find seats on those planes.

Should I bother writing a letter of complaint and asking for compensation or is this type of service now just par for the course?

Any insights from frequent flyers appreciated.

Enjoy-la!

J62

Not sure what advice you're looking for. DH arrived. Late, but he arrived. Travel hiccups happen.

Were you not able to reach him on his cell phone? He could have told you if the bus had left, or where he was enroute. Cell coverage is pretty good the entire NYS Thruway route the bus would have taken.

I recommend you chalk it up as one of those bad travel experiences and move on.

rkkwan

They get him there.

But if you complain loud enough, they may give him a few hundred Skymiles for the inconvenience.

spring212

How did he end up on a bus instead of a later flight or on another airline? Did all the passengers just get on the bus when Delta told them that's what they had to do?

gail

Future suggestion - listening to the gate person of the airline when there are flight cancellations and delays is often the loeast helpful thing you can do. Often I get a phone call from my husband on a business trip and I go on-line and check for new flights, reason for delays, etc. He also finds a phone call to the airline, even from the airport while standing in the rebooking line, gets better results than one gets from that line. While it would seem logical that the airline would help with reasonable re-arrangements, they often do not.

HKP

Gail's suggestion is a bullseye. In the situation of flight delays or cancellations or missed connections NEVER deal with airport personnel if you can get directly through by phone to the airline first. It can mean not only a difference of hours but even days in today's air travel realities.

I hadn't heard of the bus-ploy in a situation like this before, but at least they didn't have DH sitting in the disabled plane for all 13 hrs. Yes, consider this SNAFU par for the course now and in the future and plan accordingly.

klam_chowder

Thx a mint for the replies.

My DH didn't have a cell phone with him, hence he wasn't able to call me.

Yes, it was the airport personnel that made the bus arrangements. A refitted Bluebird-type bus to boot - i.e., poor suspension, cramped seats, no toilet on board.

gail, great suggestion! Thx for sharing.

I guess we've mostly been lucky with our air travel so far. Even tho this year we've had 3 significant delays (ranging from 13 to 36 hours) and I wasn't sure if this was "expected" in travel these days or whether we've just happened to be in the worst-luck places.

I'll chalk it up to experience - certainly not worth my time to complain if I'll just get some SkyMiles; we don't usually fly Delta. Thx for helping set future expectations.

Enjoy-la!

clevelandbrown

Why would the airline give you any miles for inconvenience caused another passenger?

If anyone should be contacting the airline, I would think it would be your DH (whatever that means), not you.

rkkwan

The OP can call the airline. But of course, it's the husband who's going to get the miles.

As for why is the OP calling and not the husband, well, why is the OP posting here and not the husband?

klam_chowder

I should have written "he" would get the SkyMiles - I didn't mean me personally. I would only put the info together for my DH to sign.

As to why I'm posting and not DH - cuz he doesn't have time/inclination to follow thru on any of this stuff and I book his travel, etc. He doesn't post or lurk here.

Sorry for the confusion.

Enjoy-la!

SamH

I've never had to endure this type of equipment change. I'd be hard pressed to get on a bus to Buffalo instead of an airplane, if that's what I'd paid for.

As you said, there were 3 more flights that day. Delta has 6 nonstops daily during the week. I would have held out for a seat on one of those.

Hell, if he wanted to ride a bus he likely could have saved a hundred bucks or so and had a better ride than he ended up with.

clevelandbrown

My experience, on other airlines, is that when a relatively short hop will get the passengers to their destination, the airline (and I think this is done largely as a courtesy) will sometimes arrange ground transportation, but we have always been offered a choice as to whether to take it or wait for a flight. I think its a bit simplistic to believe that everyone on the flight could have fitted into the few seats someone found available on subsequent flights; I doubt they could have accomodated the entire planeload on subsequent flights without significant delay for some, and I suspect this was explained by the ground crew, but we don't know as we haven't seen a single word from the person who was actually there.

I'm not convinced that calling the airline should be one's first course of action in such a situation. Many customer service jobs have been outsourced, at least if we are to believe the complaints frequently posted here, and I have had good service in such situations from the people at the airport (often we have to visit a service desk, but they are nearby and seem as capably, or better, staffed than some distant call center).

Not to be overly suspicious, but I wonder about a DH (whatever that is) who takes 12 hours or so to complete a relatively short bus trip, who can call his "contact" in BUF, but cannot call home, and who doesn't seem interested in taking any further action with respect to his venture. Could this just be a hastily concocted story to conceal having spent a day with a floozy, or in some museum?

rkkwan

This is actually pretty interesting. A few other things I want to throw out here:

- Delta Connection has 4 later flights JFK-BUF yesterday. All operated.

- Jetblue has operated 8 flights JFK-BUF yesterday, with 6 of them after the OP's DH's cancelled flights.

- New York to Buffalo is 400+ miles by road. This is really not a "busable" distance. We're not talking about Allentown or even Albany.

- Putting people on a bus for this route is pretty ridiculous. There are only 50 passengers maximum on this flight. Like the OP says, there are open seats on later flights. And I doubt all 6 of Jetblue's A320 yesterday were full.

- I also think calling reservations would be the way to go. I wouldn't have accepted the bus alternative that readily.

AAFrequentFlyer

Totaly agree with the last few posts.

I would be asking DH some questions before requesting any compensation from DL.

Just my opinion, you don't have to agree with it....

gail

OP - everyone needs a cell phone. To those who say people managed for decades without them - lots of things change. And ever try to find a pay phone (outside perhaps an airport) lately - I think there are about 10 in the entire country. I consider it an essential piece of emergency equipment.

dutyfree

So this was really Comair(the regional jet carrier) not Delta?

rkkwan

It's actually Chautauqua, not Comair. They operate 2 of the JFK-BUF flights on ERJ-145, while Comair operates the other 3 with CRJs.

hills27

Even better than the phone is the airline's lounge personel. They can work wonders.

Sarvowinner

Just an explanation ClevelandBrown

DH is a "cute" fodorism for Darling (or perhaps Damned)Husband; others include SIL Sister in Law, OP Original Poster.

clevelandbrown

I had originally thought the D stood for dear or darling, but in the context of this story other words, which civility precludes my listing, started to spring to mind.

Is this text messaging for the chronologically impaired?