Originally Posted by
ATLawyer
Private party contracts and government regulations are entirely different things. It's between the two parties to address breaches of contract. The government has set regulations (presumably for a reason) and they must be applied uniformly to all situations. It truly is comparing apples to oranges.
This is just pretty basic customer service--OP probably should have been given the benefit of the "flat tire" but certainly wasn't "entitled" to any accommodation. It's actually the exact type of scenario you would train your front line agents on (passenger clearly overslept and is 10 minutes late, what should you do?). Note that what "should" you do is a different inquiry than what "can" or "are you required" to do.
People giving OP a hard time have either (1) never worked a customer service industry job or (2) don't care because they can hide behind the anonymity of the internet to harass other people to make themselves feel good.
I understand your point about basic customer service. BUT I would say those buying Basic Economy, are quite literally DL's least valuable customers. People that price sensitive don't typically have much brand loyalty. And if I was someone who did pay the extra for a regular coach ticket, and see an exception being made because someone woke up late when they knew they had a non-changeable ticket, they I'd be asking myself why I paid the extra $20 or so, especially if I don't have status and either don't have a seat assignment or have a middle seat. I'm not a monster, if someone had nearly any kind of event beyond their control, It wouldn't bother me at all to see an exception made.