flyerCO

The problem is all they've stated was there's a glitch. What the glitch is and what caused it have yet t o be seen. This is why all the questions.

jsk1973

Delta likely wouldn't have made that admission if it thought it would bolster the person's claim to compensation.

sethb

Delta is equally responsible if they glitched or their agent (AF) arbitrarily denied boarding. EU261 doesn't care.

jsk1973

Delta said there was "a" glitch, not that "they" glitched.

MSPeconomist

The complaint can be filed with DOT also, but EC261 would be the primary set of applicable regulations as the flight originated in the EU.

sethb

It doesn't matter, does it?

MSPeconomist

Nope. Perhaps a complete computer meltdown could be claimed to be an extraordinary (for EC261 rules) act of god, but that wasn't what happened here since apparently only one person was involuntarily denied boarding (not necessarily in the DOT sense) on the flight.

flyerCO

Yes, depending on what the glitch actually is. This is the problem no one knows what it is and who caused it. Ive managed customer service before, a glitch could be everything from a computer issue, to a person causing problems. Not everything is the airline's fault. Hopefully we'll find out in due course.

jsk1973

People here are using "glitch" as an admission of guilt by Delta. It wasn't.

Without re-reading the thread, I believe, using the OP's timeline, the girl was issued a new boarding pass before boarding had even begun. That doesn't sound like some last-minute Delta glitch that caused an IDB.

luek096

What you said is true. The problem is exactly that no one knows about the glitch better than Delta. Someone will need to let them explain explicitly what happened on that day.

flyerCO

I agree. I'm just at a loss why DL would refuse to give the exact reason. They don't feel they need to pay, thus they know they need to provide a reason for the refusal. In this case it's sounding like some reason that they're lawfully prevented from disclosing to the passenger.

MSPeconomist

That would be a FAM but I think it's unlikely that they would want the seat of a teenager when they're entitled to prime aisle seats in the premium cabin.

Plus, even if someone is displaced for a FAM, isn't the airline obligated to follow its own published IDB procedures?

ADDED: If the seat was needed for a special needs passenger, the daughter should have been reseated, with IDB/VDB procedures followed if the net result was an oversell by one. If the seat was needed as an extra seat for a customer of size, the COS should have been offloaded if he/she did not purchase the second seat in advance.

BTW, some airlines state in their CoC that young people traveling alone (not just official UMs), the elderly, and the handicapped are to be near the bottom of the list at risk for IDBs. The OP should look at DL's published rules for VDBs and IDBs.