Delta Airlines Sucks!

I'm currently sitting at home in front of my computer. That alone wouldn't be worth mentioning, if it wouldn't be for the fact that I should be in Orlando, Florida right now.

But let's start at the beginning. The original plan looked like this:

Friday the 23rd:
- fly Delta Airlines from Berlin TXL to New York JFK
- take a Delta Airlines plane to Orlando a few hours after arrival
See Disney World
Visit the WikiSym conference
Tuesday the 27th :
- Fly back to New York City with Delta Airlines
Spend a few relaxing days in the Big Apple
Saturday the 31st:
- fly back Delta Airlines to Berlin with lots of photos and happy memories

On Friday morning, I met my colleagues at the airport and we went to the Delta Airlines check in. And that's when it all started…

The girl at the counter couldn't check me in because “you have an e-ticket but somehow you don't”. What? I still have no idea what that was supposed to mean, but after 20 minutes or so she got it sorted out via telephone. Phew. Who cares that I couldn't sit with my colleagues because she wasn't able to do anything about that?

When we boarded the airplane, I was surprised. I did a few cross Atlantic flights during the last years and never sat in a plane where I did not had at least my own monitor in front of me. In fact most also had a movie on-demand and gaming system. The plane looked more like from the 80ies. But okay, it's just 8½ hours, I had a book and my laptop with me – enough to entertain me for a while.

We saw the security video and the plane made off to the runway. Then it stopped. And stood there for quite a while. Nobody payed attention to it, until the captain gave us the news: Something about some valves in the right engine wasn't right. We had to drive back to the gate and have a mechanic look at it.

The mechanics had a look at it. A long one. They first just tried to fix the problem by some “manual adjustments”. That didn't work. The captain told us they had to replace the valves. This took them more than an hour. Finally the captain announced that the mechanics finished and are now “doing the paperwork”. Takeoff in about 35 minutes.

50 minutes later we're back on our way to the runway when the captain stops the machine and tells us “Sorry problem still not fixed”. Back to the mechanics we go. At this time we were sitting for about 3 and half hours in the plane. During this time we got a cola and peanuts.

Another half hour later with no fucking information whatsoever, the captain is speaking again: the mechanics had identified the problem and it can only be fixed by replacing a whole part of the engine. That part would need to be flown in from Frankfurt and it would take at least another 4 hours.

Fuck. You'd think they would now make sure their passengers are comfortable, which they probably aren't very much after waiting it a fucking plane for 4 hours, right? Wrong!

The captain continued to explain: they only have certain duty hours after which they aren't allowed to fly anymore. So they are checking now with headquarters in Atlanta til when they could fly.

Did you get what happened there? They were checking if they could fly that plane after it had been repaired (which would be in about 4 to 5 hours) and did not let us out while checking for that possibility! Half an hour later they figured that their duty window had passed and began organizing busses to get us back to the terminal. Yes! Delta considered to let 200 passengers sitting in that plane for another 4 to 5 hours before an 8½ hour flight.

When we finally arrived in the terminal, chaos ensued. None of the Delta ground personal did have any detailed information. When one said one thing, another said the opposite. Many passengers where concerned about their connecting flights of course. And so were we.

After getting our luggage, we went to the Delta ticket counter, where a single elderly lady was the only one in charge of answering the customer's questions. We spent probably about 2 hours or more ¹⁾ until we finally could tell her about our connecting flight to Orlando. It took a while until she understood that we had booked this one separately from the flight to New York²⁾ and that this meant it would not be automatically changed as she tried to make us believe. When she finally understood the problem she couldn't help. She as a Delta Agent couldn't rebook these Delta flights for us and we should try in New York when we get there.

Delta Agent: I can not help you. I called the highest position at Atlanta Headquarters and they told me you should ask at the New York Delta desk

Passenger: Oh! The highest position in Atlanta? Please give me the name of the one you talked to.

Delta Agent: I can't. It's always a different one. It's a call center.

Passenger: The highest position in Atlanta is a call center? Now that explains a lot!

While personal tragedies took their place at the ticket counter (a girl missing her sisters wedding, a groomsman carrying the rings with him, …) we went home. Tired and exhausted.

At least we had a new schedule. A new flight to New York would take off the next day at 9:00. Check-in at 6:00.

And there we were. A new day after a short night. There wouldn't be time for Disney World, but at least we'd make it to WikiSym on time. Or so we thought…

We checked in, no problems at all, went through the security and waited.

It was 20 minutes before 9 and there was still no call for boarding. It became 9:00 and there was no call for boarding. Meanwhile a few clever passengers had checked the flight number on the Internet. Estimated: 13:00. What the Fuck?

About 9:30 a Delta Airlines employee came in and read out a statement:

The machine still needs to be repaired.
A part has to be flown in.
That part would arrive at 12:30.
The machine would take off at 13:00.
Passengers can visit the restaurant “Take Off” for lunch at 10:15.

That's it. No explanation why they checked us in for a machine they knew was broken and wouldn't be available. No explanation what the fuck they had done since yesterday. No apologies.

We went to the restaurant³⁾ and discussed what to do. Even if the machine would really take off at 13:00, which we doubted heavily, we would arrive relatively late in New York. Even if we had no problems with getting a connecting flight to Orlando, we would arrive there very late at night.

This again would have made at least the 1st day of WikiSym a pain for sure. Without the conference the trip made no sense anymore and after spending 1½ days at the airport we were fed up with Delta's lies and non-informations. So we canceled the flight.

Even after the decision to cancel the flight Delta managed to continue fucking up our day. When we asked for our luggage, they told us to pick it up at the Airport customs baggage claim in an hour. When we asked for our bags there an hour later, they didn't even knew about it. Delta failed to tell them about our canceled flight. So we spent another hour or so waiting at the baggage claim.

So I'm really pissed about Delta. Sure a plane can break. And of course it needs to be fixed. But what I can not excuse is:

Leaving us locked in a plane
Not caring about our wellbeing (5 hours without food and drinks)
Not giving us any information what is going on
Lying about the plane's repair status and let us check in knowingly we wouldn't be able to fly
Generally being completely unprofessional with an unforeseen situation

So if you have a choice: don't fly Delta Airlines.

PS: I just checked the Delta website. The machine finally took off at 14:31. I wonder if they really boarded the machine at 12:30 as planned and let the people sit there for two hours again.

Tags:: delta,; rant,; flight,; airline,; servicefail

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¹⁾ I lost a bit track on time somewhat by then

²⁾ because of the delayed return from NYC

³⁾ which by the way had a similar bad service as Delta's

Posted on Saturday, October the 24th 2009 (4 months ago).

One word to sum it up: Bummer!

And I thought I was making an easy joke on twitter about you being better off grounded in Berlin than in the middle of the atlantic ocean ... this must be the worst (non-)travel experience I've heard in years ...

2009-10-25 00:34:49

Martin Koser

If I'd sum it up in a single word, my word wouldn't be as kid friendly as yours ;-) but thanks for your sympathy :-).

2009-10-25 13:23:51

Andi

What a horrible experience! Did they offer you any compensation?

2009-10-25 23:51:36

Tom

I work for Alaska Airlines (a us airline whos focus is... get this... Alaska (however we do fly nation wide in the US), and I can attest to the fact that sometimes... things happen. We do on occasion have mechanical failures, and different issues. I am based in a small station out in the middle of no where, if something breaks, we have to have a second plane come in with a mechanic on it, and hopefully our plane doesn't need parts... or we are waiting for the next plane coming in from anchorage (though at least in the United States, if any air carrier is going from the location of the part, to the city the part is needed (or can help with the legs) the other airlines will bring it... Actually other airlines' (and our own airlines) parts come before any other item... its the #1 priority on the next flight out). No person should be stuck on an airplane for 5 hours, and when they come back inside there should be someone ready to assist with available information, and for people to have the courage to say "currently we do not have any information" and to make an announcement when they DO have the information... but sometimes this can difficult, especially when you have 172 (our max number of passengers) all thinking their problem is the most important, and everyone is crowding, shoving, and yelling. So in this sense I do not blame Delta... though when everything goes frantic, this is the time the agents should shine, and be the calm voice. Delta is a legacy carrier, and by that I mean they are one of those carriers who still charge lots of money for a seat, and people still pay it, their standards are higher... etc etc. So I would expect them to

I feel that Deltas actions were not greatest... But who am I to judge, or say what they were doing... maybe they WERE following a policy that may be outdated. :P I am not saying Delta sucks, or that you were wrong saying they DO suck. I am saying that there was probably a lot of confusion, and the situation was handled badly.

I am forwarding your link to @DeltaAirlines and hopefully someone will contact you soon about your bad experience, and will do something to make it right. I know we would.

2009-11-03 08:47:03

Travis McCrea

You got peanuts? Were you in business? All we got was water...

2009-11-05 22:05:58

uli lessmann

Different story, same angst! My wife and I had vacation plans for Puerto Rico not too long ago. We were surprised to get an e-mail from Delta telling us the itinerary had changed. Well, seems our return flight from ATL to PVD was cancelled.

Talking to Delta, the options given us were 1) stay over night in ATL 2) pick a different airport or 3) take a refund.

Well lets the Delta made it clear that hotel stays were not their problem nor transportation costs for BOS. This left us with a bit of a problem and surprise (I am actually a Platinum Member). The attitude from the Delta people were horrendous. It ended up costing us an additional nights stay in Purto Rico, with no apologies.

Our next trip is Mexico, and guess what! after checking our schedule becuase of past problems, we find our first flight is cancelled with no notice. We would not have been able to leave PVD. Now this really sucked! Fortunately we are a little smater and checked the flights before asking for help from Delta. Armed with this information, and surprisingly a good representative, we were able to change our flight to the day before (hopefully), but it still cost more $$ because of the hotel.

I have to agree, DELTA is really becoming the worst airline to deal with. They have an "I don't care attitude" and have lost me as a future traveller.

It would be nice if these people actually paid attention to people with problems.

2009-12-27 21:35:22

RI Couple

I hope the poor s.o.b. who posted just above me got home with his luggage. I flew Delta and didn't. My horror story is on my own blog: Http://TheNewYorkCrank.blogspot.com

Very crankily yours,
The New York Crank

2010-01-07 22:20:14

The New York Crank

After spending 6 hours on a flight that was suppose to take 1.75 (with a glass of water and peanuts)and missing a connecting flight to Paris, I too think Delta sucks. I will never fly with them again.

2010-01-08 15:44:04

Carolyn

Delta... Delta... Let me start saying that I'm basically stuck with them. I live in Salt Lake City, the second hub for this piece of flying hell, and 95% of my travel time is on board of their machines, and let me add that Im a 50% travel person because of my job. Did I get your sympathy already? Lets start with reservations. Thanks Internet for setting us free from grumpy/clueless/unpolite/bitchy reservation agents. Booking flights on the phone was a set up for aggravation and even insult, at least to your intelligence. Delta customer service is the worst in the industry, their main subject in training must be "Passing the Bucket 101". If they have the slightest opportunity to tell you "That is not our responsibility" they will, even if it is not true. Boarding the flights is like being held hostage. Random boarding zones that don't follow any rule for making it easier, and careless attendants that act like school teachers from the XIX Century by giving directions to everybody but not helping anyone. Do you remember that we used to have pillows and blankets in the flights. One flight attendant even laughed at me when I asked for a blanket. I'll pass on talking about peanuts, charges for bags, and charging you for food at the flight (cheapos!) because this goes accross the industry, saved some honorable excemptions. They do something as an emergency because whatever excuse and then the policy stays, even after the problem is gone. Finally: their Frequent Flyer Program. Free travel used to be a nice perk/bonus for travelers. We used to say "Well, after all, I'll get my free ticked to Tombuktu in a couple of months". Ha! They came up with this new "More flexible and convenient way to plan your reward travel". Forgive me for this comparison; but that is like somebody sticking his finger in your rear orifice while he explain "The benefits of the practice, which will give you a more flexible and vital rectum". You could travel internationally with 50,000 miles (35,000 in Continental/Copa to South America). Now you need 60,000 for an international flight in Delta, which YOU NEVER GET. With this "flexible" levels you get, probably, about 10% of opportunities to travel with 60,000 miles. Any trip will cost you between 75,000 and 150,000 for a coach seat. Well, if I haven't gotten your sympathy to this point, you are cmpletely heartless or you are a Delta employee. Sometimes I see Delta as I see Mc Donald's; nobody likes them, but they are always full. At least if you decide to eat at Mc Donald's, you get what you expect. I would love to see Delta in their knees, but they still fly cheap, and people will keep bitching while they get into their website to book their next trip, even if they can't be sure if that would ever happen.

2010-01-28 17:16:01

Fred Rosas