Originally Posted by
DLNonRev
ok SAT I guess you are saying that he has the right to International rule 80B because the contract itself has not been changed, updated and put online saying that DL will NOT endorse the ticket to another airline. DL has the right to alter the contract verbally in form of Customer Care without having to rewrite the contract itself...
Authority of Delta Employees & Ticketing Agents
Except where otherwise provided by law, no Delta employee or ticketing agent has the
authority to alter, modify or waive any provision of the Contract of Carriage unless
authorized by a Delta corporate officer. Delta appointed agents and representatives are
only authorized to sell tickets for air transportation pursuant to the approved fares, rules and
regulations of Delta. This rule supersedes any conflicting provision in the contract of
carriage.
I would say that this backs me up...
That's not going to work either. What the above-referenced provision does is (theoretically) limit the ability of front-line DL agents to offer remedies otherwise not contemplated by the Conditions of Carriage without the express approval of management.
As a basic contract law principle, DL is not free to unilaterally decide to waive contract provisions that inure to the benefit of the customer. Your reading of this clause could, for example, allow DL to tell a customer who bought and paid for a full-fare business class ticket from ATL-CDG, "Sorry, we're going to switch you to a coach flight from ATL-TPA instead" over the obvious objection and chagrin of the customer. "See, we can do whatever we want so long as a corporate officer backs us up. Thanks for the money, though. Happy travels."
SAT like I said in an earlier post... I originally went with the believe that a schedule change is qualifying for other airline reprotection due to international rule 80B but our corprate office corrected me on another situation that i faced earlier this year.
I believe your initial instincts were correct. I also believe that DL management understandably wants to protect its bottom line by deterring passengers from electing a more expensive remedy which may require DL to pay another airline money above and beyond the value of the ticketed segment to fill-in the gap created by DL's schedule change. But such is the stipulated price of DL making a business or operational decision that it no longer is willing to provide transportion of its customer from Point A to Point B on its equipment on a contractually agreed-upon date.