Originally Posted by
JimAtl
So many issues here... If I get a flat tire, whether it caused me to be late or not, I would expect Goodyear to buy me a new tire, provided that it is still under waranty. Now, this is not the same with the airlines because we pay for each trip, instead of a lump sum. Hypothetically, if I could pay Goodyear to service my tires every 5,000 miles, and I get a flat tire, heck yeah I would expect them to pay.
The analogy I was trying to make is that if a mechanical difficulty causes you to miss something, it's not the end of the world. Your rebuttal completely left out the part about compensation for the event (or in my example, work time) missed, which was the entire point I was trying to get across.
The OP didn't appear to be in a wheelchair, nor was he traveling with 5 kids, nor did he try a 20-minute connection, so your anger/frustration towards these travelers(for whatever reason) is misdirected. Inexperience travelers will make mistakes due to inexperience, if you don't want to help, I am sure there are others who will.
These were general statements, not directed towards the OP per se. I fault myself for not including a line break to make that more clear.
I want to help, and have probably have helped more than anybody on this thread, purely for the fact that I deal with these passengers on a daily basis, at a job that pays me virtually nothing. While I may think that these passengers are totally at fault, it's still my job to help them the best I can, and the ability to not take things personally and not to assess by the situation but by the ultimate goal (to get from point A to point B) with a smile that comes from my passion for what I do. Not too many people at Delta (or the regional partners) have that, as you can find quite easily from many of the threads here.