But is anyone at DL HQ really listening?
 

I would characterize this forum as being populated by alot of very unhappy customers with varying degrees of loyalty to Delta, who generally like the hard product but hate the soft features. The product is just good enough relative to the competition to make most people overlook how bad the non-flying portion really is.

There are countless threads, in many cases very specific and very well articulated, that clearly outline what the primary sources of dissatisfaction are - and in many cases what the possible acceptable solutions could be.

And while this makes for a good $%*&@! and whine session for our collective group of disgruntled DL customers, do you think there is any chance that Senior Management takes it seriously enough to make noticeable and meaningful changes to those things which we all think are most broken?

In other words.... what good is all this complaining if no one up there is listening?

When I post on here complaining about XYandZ, its twofold.

1. To see what other delta loyal customers have experienced in relation to the same or similar situation, and

2. To see if a delta loyalist possibly has a solution or a way around my predicament.

Then again, I believe some ranting on here has at one time or another lead to some corrective actions actually being taken by the almightly DL.

I don't know if they pay attention, but I hope they do.

With the exception of WN, most of us believe the major U.S. airline executives work in a cone of silence.

Are they listening? Probably.

The follow-up question: Do they give a damn?

Trends so far indicate: Probably not.

My observation is if a thread is 99% negative in a very strong way about a mistake or program change you'll see an official comment from DL. Example, the SNAFU last week where Medallions were seeing higher fares from the search engine than base customers.

When threads split up into Red Tail V Blue Tail it guarantees no comment or action from DL. Why should they do anything, enough of the customer base is willing to take it.

When DL is obviously breaking a regulation you won't hear anything either. For instance the threads over DL's long standing policy of selling A fares that are really poorly disclosed coach fares with time of booking upgrades (PAX end up paying hundreds more, only to be seated in coach when IRROPs happen). There has never been an official statement from DL on this. And I doubt there ever will be until the DOT issues fines.

I've taken the time to email R. Anderson. Alas, neither he nor his staff has bothered to reply.

Tells you pretty much exactly how little even Diamonds are thought of at Delta HQ.

A number of times I've been told by several employees at DL that they do read what's going on at FlyerTalk from the web team, skymiles team and even the the guys/gals at the flight training center. Not to mention that I was also told they have a service that reads all this information and gives them a daily Reader's Digest version of what is going on here. So with that in mind here is the thing that I think that FT'ers forget.

This is a time of transition, you had two really great programs with two sets of really loyal customers and they became one. No matter what they do right now they are not going to please everyone. They made a plan to go to the 2010 Medallion Program and I think that it was a good step to announce the plan in advance and start moving forward. As they move forward they can learn the kinks and what you guys like and don't like and make changes as needed but you have got to give them a break. Make one post and fill it with all your gripes and move on with life. I don't care what DL does with the skymiles program as long as their primary focus is to get me from point A to B safely and at a good price. (This coming from someone who flies out of HSV the highest per ticket airport in the country)

My 2 cents - yes, I think our commentary does reach HQ in some way. However, its largely drowned out by DL Finance/Accounting which is solidly in the Wall Street "forget long term - what does the next Q look like" mentality.

They listen. Yet sometimes the answer is "no".

Pretty much the feeling I get from Delta at this point is "We're the biggest now, so enough people will HAVE to fly us whether they like it or not, so why bother trying to make it worthwhile?".

My hunch is that they are indeed "listening" - there are times when an official or semi-official presence will post on one of the threads in which there are quite a few questions and/or complaints....but they tend to avoid certain issues in the comments they do post.

It appears that they are intentionally "not commenting" on some of the most hotly discussed issues on this forum...

My guess - that means one of two things...

1 - Serious discussions taking place about whether to change or not to change certain policies and procedures (and thus intentional silence for the moment so as not to make any statements until a decision is reached)

2 - A pretty firm intention not to make any changes, and the decision also made not to enter into any back-and-forth discussion about the way things are done know (perhaps hoping that the board discussions will eventually fizzle out)

Just guessing on my part...

I'm sure there are many people at DL reading all this on FlyerTalk. The key question is will changes arise out of what is clearly becoming an angry mob of a small but vocal portion of Dulta's customer base.

If they don't do someting soon to stop the uncontrolled outrage, its soon going to spill over into other blogs, then get picked up by mainstream press and big damage will be done.

My guess is Jeff will throw us a bone of some sort to quell the noise. But knowing DL it will come at the cost of something else and we'll be right back at boiling point in a few months.

Hard to listen when the ears are muffed by the soft tissue of the rectal cavity. :D

I do agree with other posters. I found some good tips on how to get extra miles (pun intended) from the current system or get tips for different airports.

Listen & care? Yes.

Though some of the higher up's may not post here, they ARE well informed. However, DL put out a new social media communications policy earlier this year. In this policy, they have seemingly decided Social Media should route as a PR piece. SMI might chime in and let me know this isn't the case but that is NOT what I've heard.

Unfortunately open communication is not currently ocurring here. However, there are very many employees who DO care and DO whatever they can to help us out, as their good customers.

Give it some time people, give it some time...