Originally Posted by
OLYflyer
DL is currently selling a flight with only a 30 minutes connection at MSP. The example I found is SFO-MSP-RAP (actually I now have this itinerary as well after a previous SLC-RAP flight was cancelled).
From ExpertFlyer and confirmed by @DLAssist minimum connection time at MSP is 40 mins (for Domestic
omestic).
So what am I missing - I've been to MSP many times and sometimes sub-hour connections are tough if you come in on one side and leave on the other. Is this just another oops moment for DL IT? I've often had a schedule change to an illegal conx, but they've never actually been trying to sell that at the same time.
I imagine eventually I'll get a yellow "schedule change" banner on this itinerary at DL.com but to this point nothing yet - weird.
DL routinely schedules flights with less than their own MCT.
For example, I have been told by 3 separate DL agents on 3 separate occasions that the MCT domestic-to-domestic for ATL is 55 minutes.
Note that ExpertFlyer confirms this.
Consider the following itinerary:
AGS to PHL
DL 5024 to DL 1661
ATL 47m Layover
When you dig deeper and see that DL 5024 is late nearly half the time, and over 30 minutes late nearly a third of the time, you have to ask "What's going on here?"
A connection time less than the MCT, with the originating flight on a regional carrier, and connecting through ATL is like playing Russian roulette with 5 bullets in the cylider instead of just one.
It looks like DL management may be moving in the right direction, though. Flights that I have monitored in the past (after some painful personal experiences) which used to have connection times in the range of 30 to 40 minutes are now 40 to 50 minutes, but still less than DL's own MCT.
This issue is discussed further at:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...?highlight=MCT
So... can anyone reason why selling an itinerary with a connection time appreciably less than the airline's own MCT is a prudent, proper thing for DL management to do?