Delta nightmare
 

I'll try to keep this brief, but I must pass this along to others who may be considering booking a flight in the future on Delta.

Our party of 4 had reservations for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to Miami, connecting throug Atlanta. Our 1:00 PM flight was delayed for mechanical reasons, then ultimately cancelled. As subsequent flights to Atlanta were leaving every 2 hours or so, stayed at the terminal and put ourselves on stand-by for these flights.

After the first and second flights after us had departed, we were told that we were now "at the top of the stand-by list". There were several volunteers that had stepped off to offer their seat. There was then an announcement that no volunteers would be needed for that flight. We felt relieved that after a 6 hour delay, and facing the prospect of having to come back the next day (Wed. before Thanksgiving) we would have seats on this flight.

What happened next was nothing less than stunning. The counter attendant announced that the flight was full, and no stand by passengers would be allowed on board.

I'll skip the details regarding our reaction, but the bottom line is this...Delta policy is to not allow a volunteer to give their seat (for compensation) to ANY stand-by passenger. Now, I understand the fiscal logic behind the policy, which, as relayed to me was that they can't compensate a confirmed passenger to accomodate a stand-by passenger. Makes sense, except for those stand-by passengers who arrived at the terminal as confirmed, and were changed to stand-by against their will.

I will also add that all 4 of our legs on this trip, both to MIA and back were significantly late, both departing and arriving. Add to that the relative disinterest in helping us by the Detla staff, the age and smell of the planes, the lost bags, etc...you get the point. I'm not normally one to bag on a particular brand, but the complete and utter lack of accountability from anyone associated with Delta, and the profound inconvenience (we lost 20 hours of our trip) made this post necessary.

Take Care,

--Pappy

Pappy,
Amen: Delta is in major league trouble and no one seems to care.
M

Ditto -- despise Delta.

Thanks for telling us, Pappy. I won't take Delta to Florida for a wedding that is coming up. It was one of my possible choices.

Pappy-
Similar things happened to us a few years ago, only they were giving the standby seat to PLATINUM members, making us peons sit and wait for availablity..

Only going up and telling the agen that I had a cruise to catch in the am, got us on the plane =( and We DID have a cruise to catch! )..She just took heart on us..

Anytime I go to FL , I fly USAIR-I know they are all in trouble financially, but USAIR always seems to pull thru for us...and I HATE connecting planes in ATLANTA..ALWAYS LATE and many concourses over ....

My response is to write a letter to the president of Delta and see if they will give you a few vouchers..It sure won't hurt...

The word "nightmare" is sure thrown around a lot on this site for things which are pretty mundane, although very irritating, travel experiences.

Pappy, I can match you and raise you on several trips involving Delta, Northwest and United. It happens and it STINKS but you get over it.

My teenage daughter was flying from Orlando to New York City a few years ago, to visit me while I was there on business. Her flight was cancelled for mechanical reasons and she spent the next NINE HOURS trying to get on a flight! Plus, when she asked for a food voucher after waiting several of those hours (I told her to ask for it), they said it was not their policy to give them out! I had her put the agent on the phone and he quickly supplied a $10 food coupon and told her she could have another in four more hours.

I complained via their website, and after many weeks I was finally reimbursed $200 for her flight. That was nice, but it would have been nicer if she could have been in NYC nine more hours!

I only hope Delta stays in business a while longer as I have tickets for February!

My one personal experience flying Delta to Florida convinced me that I would not ever again fly Delta, and I haven't.

I'm not trying to excuse Delta, whose service always did stink as far as I'm concerned, but when it comes to airline service and lack of problems, all bets are off with all airlines on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving!

They are not supposed to put you on standby unless the reason for your delay is weather. They are required to find you alternate routing. Was Delta the only carrier offering service to Miami from your home airport? If not, contact Delta customer service as they owe you compensation.

While we were waiting for other flights, I was actually on my cell phone for 2 hours with their CS, who were trying to find us other flights out of KC to any city that we would be able to connect from to MIA. I got the impression that other airlines aren't really willing to work with Delta in these cases. Go figure.

I have a similar experience on a PVD-ATL-IAH itinerary about 1.5 years ago. But there's a small difference - I was flying on a FF award ticket.

From what I understand how airlines work, I don't think the gate agent explained to Pappy the whole story (possibly deliberately). First and foremost, they need to rebook you on a confirmed seat somewhere, somehow. Which in Pappy's case, may be the eventual flight he got on, or maybe even something later. THEN, they can put you on standby on earlier flights. They have <b>no obligations</b> to offer compensation to get volunteers off the other flights. So, get over that part of your complaint, as Delta was following procedure there.

<b>However</b>, I believe you weren't explained to properly about that part. Plus, if the <b>confirmed</b> alternative flight is certain hours after your original flight (which I don't know the exact detail), they are supposed to find you alternatives, including on other airlines. Now, apparently, you didn't get on some other airlines - but it's unclear why that was the case. Maybe there really wasn't another flight on a different airline that could get you to Atlanta or Miami as quickly as your eventual flight (which delayed you 6 hours - which may seem a lot, but in the world of airlines, it's really not...). Or all of the competitors' flight were booked full - remember this is 2 days before Thanskgiving.

Also consider this - I don't know what city you flew out of, but there could be a total of 4-5 DL agents in that whole city, and there could be 100+ affected customers. It would make any agent extremely busy and frustrated, facing all of the angry customers like Pappy, as each rebooking probably would take many minutes to accomplish. There is really a limit of things the agent there could do. Therefore, the <b>smart thing</b> to do is to call DL's reservation and have those people handle it for you. Sure you may be put on hold for a while before getting through to someone in India, but it still beats dealing with the gate agent.

Anyways, I think the eventual outcome of Pappy's experience really wasn't as bad as it may seem. 6 hours delay on a busy travel day due to a mechanical problem really didn't warrant this long a thread. But I think it's probably the agent's fault for not explaining all this to Pappy and his travel group.

This could easy happen on any airline, and I really don't see anything so outrageous to be this unhappy.

What I find most annoying about this story is the way the airline fluffs off customers when there are &quot;mechanical problems&quot; -- as if the airline isn't at fault.

After suffering through a six-hour delay in Pittsburgh once because of what the US Air attendant told me was an &quot;unavoidable mechanical problem,&quot; I quoted my tank commander in the US Army: Machines break down because of a lack of maintenance or attention.

Pappy, sorry you had a problem but I have to agree with Patrick. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, all bets are off.

Have you tried calling Delta? Gate agents are just as weary as the passengers that week.

There seems to be lots of complaints about the airlines at the same time that many of them are biting the dust. I agree it's awfully frustrating, especially on Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, Southeast Airlines folded. A regional carrier based in St. Petersburg, this is minor news in the airline industry.

But woe to us when they all fold. Delta is surely next. Anybody tried Greyhound lately, to get another perspective?

Pappy,

Just wanted to let you know that we had an experience on 4th of July weekend with Delta from LAX - Atlanta. The plane was delayed for mechanical reasons for 6 hours. They kept apologizing and gave us a $6 pp food voucher (thanks alot! enough to buy a latte maybe). A few weeks after our return I received a letter of apology in the mail and two $125 travel vouchers.

rkkwan,

As I stated above, I immediately called the Delta toll free the minute we realized there was a problem with our flight. Two hours later, nothing was accomplished. They did book us on a flight the next morning, and then put us on stand-by, but the whole point on flying on the Tuesday was to avoid the day before Thanksgiving. Also, the flight out that we got on was 9 hours after our scheduled departure, not 6.

Not to split hairs here, but if this scenario would be acceptable to you, fine, move along. My reason for posting this is to warn others to think hard about booking Delta in the future.

BTW, are you the same rkkwan from Sound and Vision?

Pappy - Yes, that's me, but haven't gone to that forum for a while.

Well, I don't think &quot;nothing was accomplished&quot;. They rebook you on a flight the next day, and put you on standby for the same day, which did get you to Miami, despite 9 hours late.

No, I am not saying I'll be happy about this, and I don't know the detail about what's the acceptable policy (in terms of hours of delay) in rebooking passengers on a different carrier. Plus, again, we don't know if there are seats available on alternate carriers on that busy travel date. So, Delta could have done exactly what should have been done, or maybe not. But from the information you wrote, I don't see anything that extraordinary bad about them. Again, it could happen with any carrier.

I agree with <b>rkkwan</b>. Maybe there was a possibilty of flying a different carrier, but maybe not. If I were you that day I would have called Delta, as you did, get myself on some kind of flight/list, and THEN I would either walk around the airport and ask the other airlines if they have any seats available or start calling the airlines on the phone. Once armed with confirmed &quot;hold&quot; on some other airline flying that day I would go back to Delta and insist that they sign-off on the ticket to that particular airline. They would have no choice but to do it. Some of the LCCs can't take you if you have an electronic ticket as they don't have interline agreements with any other airline, but all the majors now will accept an electronic ticket from any other major competitor.

I do understand that the casual flyer may not know this very important rule, but it's there. If the delay is over 2 hours you have a right to force Delta to sign off on the ticket.

The problem with only calling Delta on a busy day like that particular Tuesday is that the agents are very busy and they really won't go beyond the minimum. So it's up to you to take the initiative and force the issue.

It's too late now to apply the above theory but try it in the future if you are ever in the same situation. I also think you will get some vouchers for your delay, but if you fly enough you will find that these things do happen and they happen with any airline, even the so-called best airlines of the world. That's why frequent flyers love their status, love their airport club memberships. In situations like this we get to talk to agents that are dedicated to work with us only. I realize that it's no comfort for the casual flyer, but with the recent full loads and especially during busy holiday time, you have to come prepared and willing to help yourself. The airline resources are stretched to the limits during these busy holidays. This has nothing to do with Delta. I bet if you did a search here you would find people that swore they would never fly American, United, Continental, Southwest, etc. ever again.

I can certainly understand why Pappy was frustrated with Delta. I know I would be. However, to swear off ever flying a particular airline again based on anectodes, seems a bit extreme. What Pappy described can and does happen with all airlines. I recently have flown Delta a couple of times and have found it to be much better than USAir, in terms of professionalism, cleanliness of the planes, and less delays.

I certainly understand your frustration. I'm sure there are all sorts of horror stories out there about every airline - I think at any given time one could round up an angry mob at any airport.

That said, I have to give Delta a certain amount of respect for trying to stay afloat without filing bankruptcy. They've been close several times and have obviously been forced to cut costs. When I hear about KMart purchasing Sears so quickly after filing bankruptcy, it seems like there is something wrong with the system (pretty easy way out, all things considered). Delta may be slipping, but at least they are trying to make a go of it.

Another rule that people should keep handy is that airlines are not supposed to put you on flights that will most likely result in a missed connection. In other words, if you have a one-hour connection to make in Chicago, and your flight going TO Chicago is running an hour late, the airline is supposed to find you another routing rather than to put you on that delayed flight.

This happened to me with US Air. I had a 40 min connection in Philly and my first leg was running 35 min late. I called 800 number and they immediately found me a NONSTOP on Delta. They put me on hold for 10 minutes because the only seat available on Delta was First Class and they needed special authorization, but I ended up getting to my destination 15 minutes ahead of the original schedule flying NONSTOP and FIRST CLASS.

snowrooster, Kmart emerged from bankruptcy almost two years ago and think of Kmart and Sears merging more than Kmart buying Sears. From a retailing standpoint, I think it is a pretty smart move.

I agree it is a smart move. I've had good experiences w/Sears lately in shopping for appliances - their salesmen know their stuff much better than the newer giant chains that hire teenagers (best buy, etc). I just think Delta should receive a certain amount of respect for trying to make a go of it with so many other airlines filing for bankruptcy. We know Delta is hurting, so it doesn't surprise me that they have eliminated offering perks to people who are voluntarily bumped.

I agree with those who say that this situation could have happened on ANY carrier. I'm not saying that Delta couldn't have done more for you at the time. I don't know, perhaps but perhaps not. We really don't know enough to make that determination. But I don't think it makes any sense to boycott a particular airline over one incident. Eventually you'll run out of airlines to fly.

chicgal - I'm confused. I thought it was KMart that purchased Sears, but I was corrected that it was actually more of a merger. It doesn't make sense to me that a company 2 years post bankruptcy would have the funds to purchase a company like Sears. Makes me think bankruptcy is an easy way out (hence the willingness to give Delta a break). Can anyone clarify?

snowrooster...Here's the story
http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/17/news...0/sears_kmart/

Tandoori - are you saying that you think Delta is next in line for liquidation? What do you base this on? They are not in bankruptcy at the moment.

Thanks, BeachBoi. According to the article, KMart is definitely buying Sears ($11 billion, I believe). While they are going to use the Sears name and merge the existing stores, Kmart is the buyer and Sears is the one being bought. Does that seem odd to anyone but me for KMart to have that kind of money to purchase Sears only 2 years after filing bankruptcy? Sorry, I guess this is off the Delta topic.

We flew on Delta on Nov. 22 from SFO to Atlanta. The flight was totally booked even on the Monday before Thanksgiving.

This was our third round trip flight on Delta and we have never had any trouble at all. All our trips went smoothly and with out a hitch. If there were any delays it was because of mother nature.

We schedule our flights on weekdays and not near holidays. If you book near a holiday I think you are just asking for trouble from ANY airlines.

I would contact Delta for some kind of compenstation.

Utahtea

snowrooster, I'll state it again that Kmart has emerged from bankruptcy. They didn't just walk away from a bunch of debt. They either reorganized it, paid it off, or secured enough financing to cover the debt.

What are you not understanding?

GT - I'm not sure what you mean. Obviously they have emerged. What baffles me is how they managed to build up so much capital in such a short amount of time to be able to purchase Sears. It seems to me a company that files for bankruptcy should take years to rebuild so that it does not become thought of as the easy way out.

snowrooster, I'm guessing it was a combination of restructering their debt and new loans.

Beleive it or not, the Martha Stewart Living brand has boosted Kmart sales enormously. They've also gotton a new CEO that rebranded KMart. I don't know if you are old enough to remember or not but KMarts used to be horrible back in the early 90s. They've come a long way from where they were.

You don't need a lot of capital to buyout a different company. Such merger/purchase is mostly done with stocks, not cash. As long as you can pursuade your bank(s) that such a buyout is good for the long-term, and you can convince the stock holders of the other company (Sears) that the purchase make sense, then things can happen.

Therefore, a smaller company can buy out a larger one. For example, the infamous LDDS Worldcom buying out MCI in the late 90's is an example.