jcaitsith

Well first of all, let me just say that I'm appalled by the horrible customer service standard Delta is accustomed to..

I know complaining will make no difference, but it's still nice to share my experience.

I planned my journey to california this January from Italy (Milan) and because I'm not too fond of Alitalia I decided that my options would have been CO or DL. My only fault had been not double checking the connecting time when booking my itinerary with delta.
I flew DL from MXP (DL 85) to LAX via JFK, although i'm a frequent traveller i do not get the chance to visit the US that often, so I did not immediately realize that the time allowed for connecting in JFK had to be sufficient to clear immigration and re-check in my suitcase (although it would have been tagged for my final destination).

Well eventually I realised this, and being the connecting time 85 minutes I thought that it might have been a good idea to check if it was sufficient for going throught the whole process at JFK or else ask DL to re book me on a following connecting flight to LAX ... YOU KNOW, just for peace of mind and have no surprises with hotel reservations and car rental in Los Angeles.

Guess what, after writing tons of emails to DL's customer service, calling DL Italian reservation number, and DL's international reservation desk all I got as an answer, after making clear my concerns, was "It's a guaranteed and scheduled connection, we sell it, therefore you shouldn't worry" or " we can't help you". That really didn't convince me much, as one of the delta customer reps regretfully admitted that my connection was illegal, but the she also stated that MCT does not apply to same ticket itineraries! ?!?!?!?!?!?!?! is it me or it's simply bonkers?!?

well the flight from Milan itself was uneventful (and strangely departed on time) but somehow due to "wind" problems we magically ended up arriving 1 hr late in JFK... still
now, the funny thing was, the crew was not aware of being behind schedule, at the arrival in JFK i found out that half the people on DL85 had my same problem ie. IMPOSSIBLE CONNECTIONS (even provided DL85 arrived in JFK on time) given that only immigration took 1hr (having cut lines). People lost connections for LAX, san diego, las vegas and so on... all having originally scheduled flight well under the MCT or just a whisk above it (OK I KNOW IT DOES NOT APPLY TO SAME AIRLINE SAME TICKET ITINERARIES... ).

To add more shame to that, the delta staff shepherding travellers (literally shepherding) at immigration appeared to be only able to answer one single sentence "i'm sure you need to catch your flight, but you still need to clear immigration!!!!!".

now, provided american airports are mostly segmented in terimals held and organized by the airlines themselves. provided that the whole of JFK T3 is managed by delta. I assume delta would know in advance how many incoming flights it had on the given day (with specific regards to intercontinental ones), not to mention the amount of passengers arriving expecting tight connections( being these sold by delta).
what exactly is wrong with this airline?!?!?!


they sell illegal connections, they refuse to re-book you to a more human schedule, they refuse to provide any assistance locally in order to allow you with the minimum hope of making your connection and not apologizing for this a single bit, knowing in advance that the transfers are laughable not to mention impossible (at least at that time of the day in JFK!!!)))
not to mention that T3 itself was a disgrace..
the immigration looked like a queu for a concentration camp... it was only missing a sign saying "arbeit macht frei"!!!

a clearly pregnant lady just ahead of me at immigration was fainting and all the delta staff could say was "she still needs to wait and go through immigration",........ we eventually got her clear immigration in front of the whole queu after argueing with the hopeless and useless delta reps. (they might have well saved the money for hiring these ppl as they were clearly a nuisance!!!) god, two booths open for non-us passports and three times as many for US??

well shame on you delta! what is wrong with this airline.. why on earth are they allowed to even sell these tickets. I can only imagine what would have happened if no seats turned out to be available on the following flight to LA that evening as that was the last delta flight out of jfk of the day!!!!!!!!!

delta never again...
i'm used to misso connections with alitalia, but it's actually better than this! at least they are legally bound to provide you food, compensation and shelter depending on the delay due to misconnection.
DL apparently, being US airline does not even have such legal obbligations! it's all up to their "generosity" to "get you there" eventually.. (infact one of our fellow passengers departed from milan, missed his connection with delta for san diego and was therefore diverted to LAX and finally told to make his own arrangements as no other flights were available....... I suppose he rented a car and drove in the middle of the night hundred of miles to arrive in san diego on time for his meeting........)
no decency here huh?

BingoLoco

How could Delta have helped you with a fainting lady at immigration? Delta has no authority in immigration. None whatsoever. The people to talk to are the immigration officers.

Gargoyle

The inbound connections from TATL flights at JFK is one of my biggest gripes with DL. I love the JFK-PSA flight, but avoid the return PSA-JFK because when it arrives there is only one same day option to ORD, a Comair RJ (highly unreliable). Come on, DL, international pax connecting New York to Chicago and that's the best you can do? And when it fails, you leave us in the hands of an understaffed and overbooked Comair bus terminal gate? (plus the whole JFK customs/immigration experience is a national disgrace, what a way to greet visitors to "the greatest city").

No excuse for that mess.

jcaitsith

How could they have helped?!?? hello we are talking about pregnant woman here??? it's not chuck norris is it?

ever heard of fast track immigration? ever heard of scheduling flights properly or even customer service?

at least they could have "shepherded" her in front of the line in order to get her out of that hell and assisted at the earliest (and infact that's what the delta dwarf eventually did after having atleast 10 people suggesting this.... common sense???..)
i understand immigration is not paid by delta... but hello?!?!? what is it there for if not assisting passengers! they might have well avoided the hassle to put the delta shepherds at the immigration line then!!! moreover how come only two connecting flights had staff pre-immigration clearance waiting for passengers and escorting them?? if they can do it for two flights presumably they are allowed for all flights!

moreover, as i just said, delta knows how many incoming flights it has on a give time of the day, knows roughly how much immigration traffic it will have (being the terminal "mono-airline"), then, my question is, knowing all this, are they deliberately selling impossible connections just to "virtually" fill up half -empty flights or sell itineraries they wouldn't be able to sell otherwise?

Delta is simply a disgrace on this.. i can't believe there's actually ppl trying to find out excuses for them! shame on you. dl definitely deserve to be downgraded to a two stars airline on skytrxx.

aeolos

Just FYI. You're itinerary was not "illegal". The MCT for Delta International-to-Domestic flights in JFK is 70 minutes.

As for the immigration problems, I think DL should've been more proactive in accommodating the overflow of customers. They cannot do much with immigration because that is all in the hands of Customs & Border Patrol. However, hopefully they were working with CBP in trying to get passengers processed faster.

OrlandoFlyer

Two major reasons to avoid JFK:

DL Connections Flights

COMAIR

Citiboy45

I completely agree with that 2nd paragraph (well, the 1st one too). But as someone who has just absolutely quit taking on government contracts, I can pretty much guarantee Delta has no control over that at all. With that bunch it is entirely a one-way street. And it has been my experience that if you have the temerity to make suggestions you pay for it in some way down the road.

jcaitsith

1) please quote your sources for the MCT at JFK T3 intercon-domestic
I will attach below an email received from delta customer service stating that the MCT is meant to be 105mins, this has been confirmed by expedia (my buddy booked the same ticket throught their website).

2) there is no way you can downplay the awful service delta is providing for its connecting passengers at T3. No, they were in no way "working" with CBP to process passengers faster (and the dl shepherder could have made the difference as in how the queus were organized and whether they could grant you a faster track, ie. lining up in the us-citizens line if you had a connection, would have been a solution), at one point the delta staff decided that three officers for non-Us citizens were too many, so we ended with only two serving at least 4 TATL flights, while having herds of non-us citizens in line with the even more certain fate of loosing their connections.
I understand CBP is beyond their control, but as you call it "pro activeness" and as myself, and hunderds of miserable and unaware passengers are calling it "common sense and decency". You may not be able to change things with the immigration staff itself, but then as an airline, you can certainly reschedule your flights or the itineraries your selling when you clearly know how bad the situation is. I don't see why they are allowed to sell these unconnectible itineraries and refusing to re-book you in advance when you and they know, that you'll end up taking the next flight anyway (in the best of all circumstances). I'm sure this is something everyone can understand, and does not involve talking to CBP or whatever you call it. We're not talking about pro-activeness, we're talking about fooling paying customers here (btw are you on DL payroll?).

Just pretending its none of your business and playing dumb, as the airline is not responible for BCP, is not exactly the best of all the approaches!

This one of the rare useful answers i got from the delta customer service via email (I have obscured all names for the sake of privacy and data protection, by the way I had subsequently rang up the international DL reservations number only to be told that the MCT did not apply to my case, also talking to a supervisor, and they would not help me in any way to rebook me in advance on the following flight on the JFK connection as the itinerary was "scheduled and guaranteed" (gd knows what ever that means in DL language), unless i wanted to pay a penalty for that):

"Dear Mr. XXXYY,

Thank you for contacting Delta Air Lines.

As per Delta Procedures, a minimum connecting time of 105@:-) minutes is needed between an international to domestic flight in John F Kennedy, NY. Since your flight does not meet the required connecting time, it will be necessary for you to contact our International Reservations department at 800-241-4141.

If you are calling from an area which restricts 800 number dialing capabilities, you can contact us at 404-765-5000, or use your local Delta Reservations phone number. Our worldwide reservations telephone numbers are listed on our website, www.delta.com.

You can navigate there by selecting the following from our home page:

Need Help?
Contact Us
Reservations

Your selection of Delta is appreciated, and we will always do our best to merit your confidence and support.

Sincerely,

Sharon XXXYYYZZ
Online Customer Support Desk
http://www.delta.com

Original Message Follows:
------------------------

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your answer, however as per my previous correspondence (please see the below attached) I would be grateful if you could provide me with your Minimum Connecting Time for International to Domestic flight transfers at terminal 3, JFK airport, as the relevant information has not been made available in your previous email.

Yours Faithfully,

XXXYYZZ"

Akulashark

We need some delta execs to experience both of these.

OHDL1

Come on...we are only playing the hand that is dealt to
us by our parent...Delta. We all know JFK is a nightmare...throw
in some weather...and it's unbearable.
I hate it when Comair is beat down for a situation beyond their
control. Flights are delayed even when there isn't weather to deal
with. There are, as we all know, institutional problems at JFK that will
only be solved who knows when.
Oh well....thank you sir....may I have another?

HeathrowGuy

1. Once it became clear that the agent could not assist you with an illegal connection, you should have asked to speak with a supervisor.

2. The assistance the reps can give you at C&I is rather limited in the United States. We do not have a UK-style fast track system in place.

3. The traveler that neglects to check connecting times -- especially on international itineraries -- is a traveler that is setting himself or herself up for a potential nightmare.

peteropny

Most DL staff at JFK is really bad - that's a big contrast to staff anywhere else which are really good.

We try to avoid JFK at all "costs" anymore.

fly co to see the yanks

my english grammar teacher from high school (that taught me punctuation) and jake jarmel both just turned over in their graves.

http://www.siyumhaseinfeld.com/chars/dates/jake.html

jcaitsith

1. As I have mentioned earlier, i actually did get a supervisor over the phone to handle my request, but unfortunately to no avail.

3. I frequently travel to south east asia and i hardly ever check connecting times, as all my concern is to arrive at my final destination in the shortest time. Hardly ever had any problems with very tight connections with TG or SQ, unless due to delay of my first leg flight.

Ps. I'm so sorry about my punctuation and grammar !!!!!!!!!!!!

DMIrishFlyer

I have only three rules for air travel -

1. Avoid JFK
2. Avoid ORD
3. Avoid JFK

While I smpathize with everything you went through (except the part about the pregnant lady at Immigration - thats not Delta's fault, they have zero clout in immigration, rant about immigration and the fact that they don't have line for expecting moms), a big part of me also says when you fly to JFK you have to expect this type of disaster, we all know it and really shouldn't expect anything else, if it isn't a disaster its a bonus! which gets me back to my rule about JFK - avoid it!