What I found interesting was the fact that he paid "over $1,000"..... What's that? $1,200, maybe. Divided among 4 people who got bumped into probably very undesirable left-over coach seats, and delayed by a half an hour. I think that if I had been one of the people who lost my seat, it would take more than $300.00 to calm me down. (Even if I had volunteered, in order to get the plane of the ground.)
Did it matter to the kids? Well mine usually get to fly first class and they love it. But, they also know that it is a privilege, determined by where they rank on the totem pole--and they know where they rank.
Bring out the lynch mob... ingredients: a rope and at least a six-pack!
Absolutely inexcusable... you can bet your sweet bippy those four people are never flying Delta again. Gives more reason to the contrived motto of Delta: "we love ourselves and it shows."
------------------ AlphaSigOU Causa latet vis est notissima - the cause is hidden, the results are well-known.
__________________ AlphaSigOU Causa latet vis est notissima - the cause is hidden, the results are well-known.
"Absolutely" is exactly correct. This is inexcuseable. If *I* had been on that flight, I would have had to be removed by security, thereby prompting all kinds of natiness culminating in a lawsuit against Delta for unspescified punitive damages. I pray that I never get into this kind of a situation...but it does bring up several separate issues, and NONE of them are trivial...1- Delta's "no exception" rules, 2- OUR RIGHTS, 3- NEPOTISM, 4- Just WHO put all Delta's rules aside, and WHERE IS HIS/HER HEAD???I don't want to know about apologies, I want to know where is the head, and (Left out of all of Delta's press releases), WHAT happened to the FC people who were bumped...what compensation did they receive..this is very important because it indicates what treatment the rest of us can expect. So, did Delta "make it right" to them, or not? THIS IS THE ISSUE. If these people were not very generously rewarded, and I mean, VERY generously rewarded, I am stepping off Delta right now, because this is inexcuseable!!!!!
I am just too tired now to go into this any more(see upcoming trip report when I am once again semi-sane), but tomorrow, I'm writing Delta, and will post to all of you my letter.
I was in the Atlanta area when this came to light, and it was a front-page story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to clip the article for use in this discussion, and my Alzheimer's makes it a bit difficult for me to remember details. As I recall, though, the senior DL officer in question (the CFO?) wasn't with his family. His secretary was, and it was the secretary who made the noises that got the FC passengers moved. He's apologized (I think he should have been fired or fined big bucks) and said that his family members will never fly first class on DL again (I'll believe that when I see it). The passengers who were bumped to the cattle car (I think it was a 757) got some minor compensation (like maybe a guaranteed upgrade or even a free FC seat on a future flight), but not, in my opinion, nearly enough. Even if they were flying on upgrades, which is probably the case, they had paid for tickets. The kids hadn't. The secretary should have been fired, but there was nothing in the article about him/her. I don't know how old the kids are. However, if any of them was over the age of ten, they should have been smart enough to tell the secretary to back off. Of course, these parents never see their kids enough to instill any ethics. Enough soapbox.
Phil
One important ingrediant is what the shareholders would say!!! Do they want a bunch of loyal, cash paying frequent flyers in first or some kids, flying for "free" that belong to executives that they are paying 7 figure total compensation? Only one answer contributes to the bottom line. Hopefully, someone on this system is a shareholder and will bring it up at the upcomming annual meeting!
__________________
Only God does not have to travel
Let's not forget about the friend of the children traveling with them. The friend was traveling on a discounted coach fare, and was also upgraded to first class.
Could this have been an L class fare?
Remember, Warren Jensen is responsible for the L fare policy.
Programs: UA 1K, Flying Blue Plat, IC Plat Amb, HH Gold
Posts: 232
I hate to broach the subject of the infamous 'L' Fare, but I was talking with some of the gate agents in DEN about "the rule" Monday night, and they told me, "well, you guys voted for it."
I, of course, certainly don't remember voting for anything, so I asked what they were talking about, and they allowed as hoe the Medallion members had been getting disgruntled about not being able to use upgrades, and reccomended te L-Fare restriction so many times to DL that they created the rule "to serve us."
Yeah. If I had a mile for everytime I've heard "...at the overwhelming request of you, our most important customer...we're reducing your benefits and raising prices". Just marketing's way of saying "bend over".
The CFO involved may leave! Here's the article I found on Yahoo.
Delta denies rumor that CFO may be leaving
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. on Friday morning denied rumors that
Chief Financial Officer Warren Jensen might leave the company.
``There is absolutely nothing to those rumors,'' said Delta spokeswoman Kay Horner.
Wall Street analysts said rumors of Jensen's possible departure contributed to Thursday's 5.4
percent drop in Delta shares, which closed the day at 62-2/16 amid overall weakness in airline
stocks.
On Friday morning Delta shares were up 1-7/8 to 64 and other transport stocks also firmed.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that a Delta flight out of Atlanta on March 4 was delayed for 24 minutes for the late
boarding of three of Jensen's children, who were flying on free passes and who bumped passengers from first class into economy
seats.
The report said the incident and its aftermath had fueled rumors that Jensen might lose his job.
``That was a major contributor to the stock drop,'' said one analyst.
Other analysts, however, said tensions over labor negotiations at the Atlanta-based airline were at the root of the rumors and the
weakness in Delta's stock.
``The stock dropped because a number of institutions have become increasingly concerned over the growing rift between Delta
pilots and its management,'' said CIBC Oppenheimer analyst Julius Maldutis.
Pilots at the nation's third-largest airline are negotiating with the company to determine a pay scale for flying Boeing Co. (BA -
news) 777 aircraft.
Delta is scheduled to put its first 777 aircraft into use on Saturday. Under the Delta pilot contract, pilots can refuse to fly the new
aircraft if an agreement on pay rates is not reached within six months.
This means Delta pilots can refuse to fly the new 777s starting on November 1 unless a pay agreement is reached before then.
Earlier this month, Delta said it would indefinitely defer its orders for four Boeing 777s scheduled for delivery next year because of
slow negotiations with its pilots over 777 pay.
``It was a little premature to be saying they were going to be canceling 777s due to pilot negotiations,'' said Karen McGuffey, a
spokeswoman for the Air Line Pilots Association at Delta.
McGuffey said pilots are also anxious about talks for a new labor contract. The negotiations are scheduled to begin in September.
``The pilots are frustrated with their contract and want to get significant improvements in upcoming full-scale negotiations,'' she
said. ``I would not say they are frustrated with any individual member of senior management.''
Jenson joined Delta in March 1998 after leaving his post as chief financial officer for General Electric's (GE - news) NBC unit.
He has been key in a number of Delta decisions, including the airline's acquisition of a stock warrant in Priceline.com, an Internet
company whose stock skyrocketed after its initial public offering in March. As of April 1, Delta had warrants for up to 18.6 million
shares of Priceline.com (PCLN - news) with an exercise price of about $0.93 a share.
The incident involving Jenson's children and the delayed flight first appeared in a local newsletter distributed by Delta pilots based
in Oregon. It later appeared on a Delta pilot Web site.
The Wall Street Journal said Jenson apologized for the incident and agreed to give up his flying privileges for six months.
