Complaint Review: Delta Airlines

For what 3 hours. My mother has always (and by always I mean also pre 9/11) told me to be at the airport at least 2 to 3 hours ahead, and that includes factoring in the driving time and if you may get stuck in traffic.

Dear Glen,
As a travel agent (who works very closely with airlnes) I have some questions about your daughter's experience:

"number one: it says on the e-ticket that you can board up to 15 mins before the flight leaves."

GLEN, HAVE YOU EVER SEEN AN ETICKET? NO? THAT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE ELECTRONIC! THERE CAN'T BE ANYTHING WRITTEN ON THEM!!!

"Number two: Delta also wanted $25 to change her fight but because she was at the airport and did not have a charge card they maded her pay $50 to pay in cash instead of the $25."
GLEN, DELTA DID NOT MAKE HER PAY THE ADDITIONAL $25 BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T HAVE A CREDIT CARD. THEY CHARGED HER THE EXTRA MONIES FOR "ADD COLLECT" (THE FARE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FIRST TICKET AND THE NEW ONE); OR THEY CHARGED HER $50 FOR GUARANTEED STAND-BY FOR THE NEXT FLIGHT. YOUR DAUGHTER GOT VERY LUCKY, SOME CARRIERS CHARGE $100-$150 TO CHANGE A TICKET.

"Number three: the new flight was leaving 30 mins later then the original flight. As she made her way to the new flight she passed by the original flight and they were still boarding."
GLEN, WHY WOULD DELTA PREVENT JUST YOUR DAUGHTER FROM BOARDING THE PLANE? WAS THERE ANOTHER REASON SHE COULDN'T BOARD? DID SHE HAVE PROPER ID? I BELIEVE THE PASSENGERS SHE SAW WERE FOR A DIFFERENT FLIGHT, BOARDING AT THE SAME GATE.

Stephanie....

My daughter had the very same problems as you but what gets me is:

number one: it says on the e-ticket that you can board up to 15 mins before the flight leaves.

Number two: Delta also wanted $25 to change her fight but because she was at the airport and did not have a charge card they maded her pay $50 to pay in cash instead of the $25.

Number three: the new flight was leaving 30 mins later then the original flight. As she made her way to the new flight she passed by the original flight and they were still boarding.

I feel if Delta is not going to let people board 30 mins before the plane leaves then they need to fix the e-tickets to state that also why should they be allowed to charge a extra $25.00 for paying in cash??

While your report was very long, it was 100% ACCURATE. I too have worked as a LEAD AGENT for a Major Airline both pre-9/11 and post-9/11 and everything you mentioned was absouletly correct. I am agreement that more airline employees need to start enforcing ALL Rules & Regulations. It seems that everyone thinks "Do I look like a Terrorist" so they think they shouldnt be forced to endure screening. Or "The plane is just sitting there, I dont weigh that much" Yeah like you are SPECIAL and not subject to the RULES.

I know now that I have left the Airport and entered PRIVATE BUSINESS I travel quite frequently. I am allways at the airport 2 hrs or more early and usually have no problem gettin on a EARLIER flight than I am scheduled on cause I ask NICELY if I may standby. If I dont get on, I THANK the agent for their assistance & they in turn treat me very nice. I know one day a person was screaming at a AGENT about missing their flight, they became very abusive. The Agent held them to the LETTER of the RULES including CHANGE FEES etc. But they put me on in FIRST CLASS cause I asked nicely and treated them with RESPECT. This person got on, but they were grumbling cause they were at the VERY BACK of the aircraft.

S, enjoy your work & keep up the GOOD WORK. There are still some of us out here that respect you for the job you do.....

First, in fairness, I am not an impartial observer. I am a Platinum level member with Delta. I fly them twice weekly. So, I am in the top 1% of their customers. And even so, I have to be at the airport with enough time to spare - regardless.

Furthermore - there are LARGE SIGNS in the airport, at the gates, etc., that state that FLIGHTS CLOSE 30 MINUTES BEFORE DEPARTURE. What part of that do you and your daughter not understand? And why do either of you think you are somehow above everyone else that made it on time?

Clearly the accident was not her fault, I agree. However it was still her responsiblity to be there on time. Having failed at that, she then has to look at other options. My guess is that she became irate and demanding, (like mother, like daughter I'm sure) and Delta exercised its right to tell her to go away. Also, the fact that the ticket could not be changed means that you bought a deeply discounted, NON-REFUNDABLE, ticket. Did you bother to read the rules of what you bought? No!

Sorry, I've seen Delta bend over backwards to help people too many times to believe that your daughter was the victim here. Clearly neither of you has a clue as to what the requirements are to fly today, and you're trying to pass the buck to the air carrier. Nice try.

But I also see the good news here. If your righteous indignation means that your family will never fly Delta again, thank God! That means my flight won't be delayed while you idiots try to cram a footlocker into the overhead, figure out how to work the seatbelt, refuse to turn off your cell phones, etc.

Next time, try Greyhound - I think you'll find it suits you perfectly.

Stephanie dear,

Your daughter was the unfortunate victim of traffic, not the airline. You are told to arrive TWO HOURS again that is TWO HOURS BEFORE your flight for a reason. Just because you have a E-ticket that does not exempt you from that rule. There are lots of things that go on to insure that a plane takes off on time. Passengers are boarded 30-45 minutes prior to departure to allow for the pre-flight calculations to be done. You know what those are? Those are the important things that help keep your plane from falling out of the air. Each passenger is counted each bag is counted fuel is counted and so on. When this is done the cut off time comes the pre-count is finished. The agents at the counter usually leave and goes to the gate. Now had your daughter checked in and had luggage, it would not make it to the plane, as the luggage was already on the way to be loaded. And with the TSA rules and regulations, a passenger can not be knowingly placed on a flight WITHOUT their bags. Sorry but an airline is not going to incurr Major fines and penalties for you. Secondly she would not have made it through the security line in ONT in less than 45 minutes, trust me I know as I fly out of there 3-4 times a month. Its terrible, but true, it took me and hour to get through one day in the early morning hours. But the company is NOT obligated to PAY for your daughter being late. Unfortunately if they did that for everyone, you would be paying a lot more then the hundred or so dollars you paid for a ticket. An airline is not a personal coach for passengers. It is a corporation like any other, and more so as it has higher powers to answer to. I won't explain all of this to you as it is the responsibility of passengers to learn and understand the CANs and CANTs WONTs and WILLs of the airline they fly.

A tip, as unfortunately most passengers fail to understand. It is the soul resposibility of the passenger to make it to the airport on time. The 2 hours allows for most unforseen issues. Traffic or otherwise. However, most will let you go on the next flight for no fee at all. But there is a catch........ If you bite the hand that feeds you, you get nothing. It is not the fault of the agent or the airline that you did not make it to the airport at the designated time, they are willing to help, as long as it is within their power to do so. No one is willing to risk the food on their table for a stranger in most cases. Did you know that airline have to pay fines for late departures? Did you know that airlines will find the direct cause of a late flight and place the blame on that employee? That could lead to problems for that employee, and while you are off vacationing not even giving that agent a second thought, they are standing in the unemployment line, but hey you got where you needed to go right? The moral? If you treat the agent correctly, and understand they are doing what they are told to do by their employer, you will get the answers and help you need. However, if you start yelling and screaming, calling people names and acting like a spoiled princess, well, you get nothing. You get sent to the phone to even further delay you, so that you can yell at someone else whine and scream. Airport agents can do alot of things, but no one wants to help someone that has screamed at them and called them names for obviously failing to follow directions and showing up on time. How do I know this? As a Customer Service Supervisior for and Airline that does EVERYTHING, time is important. I'm the one that checks you in and takes your over-weight luggage, then goes out to the ramp to bring the plane in and unload passengers and bags, goes to baggage claim and off-loads that, then returns to take lost luggage reports because some agent let you go without bags even though you showed up LATE (a violations with stiff fines), then I race back down to the gate to board the flight 30 minutes before take-off, then I load that same over-weight luggage you checked in and agrued over having to pay the over-weight fee for. After all that is said and done, I account for everyone on that plane down to the weight of the passenger load and cargo load. I finally get to hand that to the pilot that has to calculate it yet again. By this time we have 10 minutes to go. Now there are 49 people and 80 bags, we are done and some person shows up as the door is closing. I would have to do one of two things. One, I can say sure hop on..... that means I have to go back to the counter, get your bags open the cargo bin back up take the load sheets back from the captain (which they hate with a passion) redo the passsenger count, redo the bag count (by the way we are now 10 minutes late) give the load sheets back to the pilot and wait for them to do their paperwork over again (which they hate). Here is where it starts to get interesting. Other passengers start getting nervous about missing connection flights so I have to answer their questions. (There are 49 other passengers remember?) Then the captain starts complaining on the cell phone to his supervisor that I personally caused a delay. Finally 20-25 minutes later I close the door, stand in front of the plane and marshall it off. They have missed their take-off so have to wait another 20 minutes for an open spot, you are now 40 -45 minutes late. You take off. You reach your connection city, only to find out that you have missed your flight. The other 49 people with you missed theirs as well. Now 20 of those people were connecting to the last flight to whereever they were going and have to be put in hotels over night, given food vouchers and ect. You are one of them. You go complain anyway even thought it was YOU that caused the delay, not me, the agent for letting you on anyway. So lets see the airline has just paid $69 for 20 people for a room, $10 for meals plus transportation when you reach your final destination. I now am speaking to several corporate officers explaining why I went mad and delayed a flight.....oh by the way the plane that I put you on, was suppose to continue on to hawaii, that flight was over and hour and a half late as well. I am finally told that I am now on probation and if I cause another delay like this I am fired. Oh, and did I mention the fact that all this stress is handled by people making barely over minimum wage if over it at all? If you only knew what it really takes to make sure planes get off and the ground on time. I tell ya been doing it for many years, and I'm still amazed sometimes how we pull this off time after time.

Now for the second option I have. To tell you Im sorry, I understand you had some trouble getting to the airport, I can not reopen this flight, but I can place you on another flight leaving in 2 hours or in this case you would have to re-schedual for tomorrow. (this is the part that makes or breaks what I do next.) If you seem to understand the issue and are not screaming at me I will help you the best I can, I can even try waive fees for you and explain why it was done with the blessing of the company. However if you whine and scream and call me names, forgetting it was your fault you were late, I will not stick my neck out for you and will follow company policy to the letter. Which may include charging you to change the fee for changing your ticket for a departure on another date.

You see an airline can not continue to operate and offer you the fares that you like, and be held responsible for EVERY SINGLE THING that happens to a passenger trying to get to the airport. Next you will be wanting to hold them responsible for an accident you were in getting to the airport. Well if that happened, there are ways around that too. Just be nice and understand that the policies and regulations are not in place to upset anyone, nor are the agents at the stations there to make your life hell. Why should they take mistreatment from a passengers simply because they are trying to make a living. We are expected to show up on time for work, is it worng to expect passengers to show up on time for a flight? And by the way my company does not care that my commute is over an hour, they simply say..... I should have left in enough time to deal with unforseen issues. I am in no way saying that your daughter was rude and nasty, I am simply stating that, in most cases this is what happens and why agents become jaded, and reluctant to "help". When it comes down to it SOMEONE always pays for late passengers, and all to often it is the agent that pays with the loss of a job, or a repremand.

By the way you failed to realize a small issue. An airline has an obligation when they are at fault to provide the service you paid for. If you paid for a ticket to leave at 4:00PM on 1/1/2005 and you failed to show, you breached the contract, not the airline. No matter what the fault was, it was not the fault of the airline. Now if they had an issue where it was the fault of the airline, they will take care of you as best they can, be it giving your ticket to another airline or providing alternate transportation. And again in most cases they do not have to be forced to help you, as long you follow the terms set forth in your contract which is all the small print you wiz past when buying a ticket online. Passengers should read this, it explains everything in there. Blame can only be laid in one place in cases like this. It is not the fault of the airline, it is not their place to get YOU to the airport on time. You can leave earlier, and if you did that, then it is the fault of the person that caused the accident or delay, which I'm sure was not their intention when they left their home. But customer service is customer service and when both parties are helping each others miracles happen, but remember, you can catch more flies with honey. That works both ways. You are more likely to get help far above and beyond from an agent by being nice. The company is sure to get repeat business from you if they are helpful as well. ;) So you see placing blame in a case like this only leaves a finger pointed in one direction. Best thing when a flight is closed, dont get mad, just see what they can do to help. If the agent is being unhelpful then do what the cousin did and call the 800 number, in most cases they can not help day of departure, but they can go to bat for you with the airport agent. ;)

Again this was not an attack on you or anyone, merely and insight from a person in the line of fire. Many reports like this can be avoided and passengers can be happy with their airlines if people took the time to understand certain issues. I hope you have found an airline that you are happy with and continue to fly, as there is nothing like looking out the window of a plane and seeing the beauty of the skies while soaring among the clouds.