Delta Meltdown Kept Loved One’s Remains Stuck in Transit for Days
Jeff Edwards April 12, 2017
The body of a cancer victim was delayed, diverted and stranded en route to memorial services after the airline struggled to recover from last week’s weather-related issues at its ATL hub.
Thousands of Delta Air Lines passengers saw their travel plans disrupted last week when severe weather wreaked havoc on operations at the carrier’s main hub at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). For some customers, however, the delays were more nerve-wracking than can be imagined.
The family of Bryant Raburn, who lost a battle with cancer last Tuesday, says the logistical nightmare at Delta caused Raburn’s body to spend several days in transit, even getting stranded as far away as Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) before eventually making it home to Nashville International Airport (BNA) several days behind schedule. The family says that even worse than the fact that Bryant Raburn’s body almost didn’t arrive in time for his funeral was the lack of respect from the airline.
“I was stonewalled by Delta at every turn,” Raburn’s step father David Rhodes told Nashville CBS affiliate WTVF. ”I just want Delta to review their policies, tighten them up, and know when human remains are involved, they need to be monitored more closely. It’s time-sensitive.”
Raburn died in Raleigh, NC where he was receiving treatment for leukemia. Delta was to transport his remains for burial in Nashville, but, in part because of the serious logistical issues that occurred in the days following a series of storm systems that passed through the Atlanta area last week, the airline failed to find a way to get the body to its destination. After days of being stuck on canceled flights, including several scheduled to depart SLC, airport officials finally managed to find an alternative flight and were able to deliver the remains just hours before the scheduled memorial service. The family was allowed to meet the flight on the tarmac in order to make it to the funeral in time.
“We wanted time to see him before the service started, but now we won’t have that,” Rhodes told reporters. “It seems minor, but it’s not.”
While insisting that much of the delay was beyond the airline’s control, Delta officials apologized for contributing to the family’s grief.
“Delta worked directly with the family to ensure their son’s remains were delivered expeditiously and have offered continued support to make this right,” the airline said in a statement regarding the incident. “We apologize for the disruption and any added burden this may have caused during an already difficult for the family.”
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Boy, talk about almost being late for your own funeral! With all due respect, my deepest sympathies to the family as I can't even imagine what they were going through.
Everyone has to get a grip in a situation like this. You don't always get what you want, as the song goes. Be flexible and be ready to change the date/time of the funeral service. In February, my son's father-in-law passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in France where he works as a missionary. The family had his body shipped to the USA for burial. They knew that there could be delays and built extra time in their schedule and also were prepared to change the date of the memorial service. BTW, their main concern concerning delays were the intermittent strikes by French airline employees.
I looked, it i an 8 hour 25 minute drive from Raleigh, NC to Nashville, TN. Why wouldn't the family just bring the body back in a car or truck? We have done this before a lot longer distances and have known people who brought loved ones back to the US from Canada or back to Canada from the US traveling as far as Florida to/from Canada.
They could have put him on another carrier on even FedEx. The fact that they sent him through SLC just shows DL treated this no different than any other cargo.
What could Delta have done? Send the shipment to another airline that could've got the remains to the family in a timely manner. What an awful way to treat a grieving family, all for the sake of revenue from a cargo shipment.