MikeMpls

I'd suggest you speak for yourself & also get some facts straight -- DL's on-time performance was a couple notches worse than WN's in the recent WSJ study.

I'll consider returning to DL when I don't have to smash my head into a wall to book award trips with reasonable schedules, costs & effort. Getting something useful back out of SkyPesos just isn't worth the work & frustration.

Vuelos

Care to write off December?

http://www.suntimes.com/business/317...-airlines.html

Ok so you are not returning to DL. Hope to hear your additional insight about an airline that you don't fly.

Will I see you in the Emirates forum next?

mersk862

Per the most recent DOT numbers (Nov. 2010), Southwest had an on-time percentage of 79.68%. Delta was 81.83%.

In October: DL - 83.9%, WN - 77.9%

Southwest's on-time performance has taken a large dive over the past few months...

MikeMpls

Bummer!

Actually, there's a good explanation why WN's stats would nosedive when conditions go south -- they tend to wait for late connecting passengers rather than leave them behind. The real issue (which you didn't mention) is the apparent discrepancy between DOT & FlightStats data. However, FlightStats disavows any responsiblity for the data they use. If they can't stand behind their data, how can they stand behind the stats calculated from that data?

ADLFO

I respectfully disagree. DL has been at arms length for some time because they cannot control the message here. The official spokesperson for DL on FT is the same person that was previously the official spokesperson for NW on FT. Please notice the difference in communication style after the move from MSP to ATL. Much less information, much more guarded style of posts, very little back and forth with other posters. Of course, I'm not blaming him personally, he obviously has been given many more contraints on what he can and cannot say. Other companies find it beneficial to have a more engaging presence on FT and seem to have no problem standing up to criticism. DL, obviously, does not find such interactions beneficial, but I disagree that it has anything to do with caustic attitudes. From my vantage point, DL, when it comes to Loyalty issues, much prefers the opaque to the transparent.

Gargoyle

Combine that with their policy of very fast turn-arounds, and the domino effect can be huge. They wait for late connecting pax, causing the pax who arrived on that flight on time to be late for their next connex... It's a risky policy, and it seems we're seeing the result in how their numbers are tanking.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Sigh... and yawn.

I have re-read all posts here. No one had suggested what you imply

Please don't misquote... while some see this as an effective technique when losing a debate, it really isn't.

I did not imply that PAX and employees should be competing for, and that PAX should be given priority with respect to, some common block of rooms. In fact, my point was just the opposite.

Why should the fact that DL has a bunch of FAs in town for training (one example cited from above) detract from the number of rooms DL is willing to provide PAX who, under DL's policies, are entitled to a hotel room in response to a DL-caused IROP?

Buying hotel rooms for employees for a company-scheduled event is an every-day business expense.

Are you saying that, if DL can only contract for a total of XX discounted rooms in the ATL area, that the number of rooms available to inconvenienced PAX should be less when DL wants to schedule some sort of rah-rah team building exercise and brings a bunch of employees into ATL?

How is that equitable to the PAX?

StayingHomeIsBetter

LOL^

Avid... I am starting to enjoy your perspectives.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Fair enough. While most of the following was documented in my posts above, I'll repeat the front-end and complete the back-end. I:

1) Ignored the agent's BS claim that there were no hotel rooms available and, within about 2 minutes, had myself booked into the Hampton, five minutes from the AP.

2) Ensured that the agent committed DL to reimbursing me.

3) While, at the AP the next morning, started the process for getting reimbursement. After being told by a customer service agent that there was nothing that she could do, it took phone calls to two different DL corporate customer service numbers to get someone to commit to sending me a check in real US dollars, rather than issuing a DL Dollars e-certificate.

What still troubles me about this situation?

1) The absence of an ethical standard of care in how DL administers this policy. Basically, they indiscriminately promise PAX that they will be given a room, promising more than they can deliver, then leave the PAX to fend for themselves when they get to the connecting city. Are you OK with that?

2) That I have to be a PM or DM to receive equitable treatment in a situation like this. I have not been on FT long enough to have become so self-absorbed that I have lost compassion for non-elite travelers. Yes, I was able to get a refund for my hotel. But others were not being told of this option. If non-elites are entitled to a room by DL's policies, why should they not be reimbursed when DL does not provide that room?

3) That it took extra effort to get a refund in real money, rather than DL scrip. Granted, I see DL's self-serving perspective. They want to reimburse me with a credit that can only be used to purchase a ticket, knowing that I will have to shell out more of my own money (to their benefit) to supplement the credit in order to use the credit. My hotel expense was paid in real dollars... my reimbursement should be in real dollars. And that only happened because I persisted.

4) That, overall, this serves as another example that DL management do not yet understand, or do not care about, customer service.

MikeMpls

But unlike Dultah, very few of their customers are stranded overnight in hotels.

Gargoyle

Is that from DOT or WSJ statistics? Or is it anecdotal?

mersk862

On a given night, Delta knows that it is going to need hotel rooms for XX amount of employees. X% goes to the F/As. Y% goes to pilots. Z% goes to whatever else is deemed necessary (and I wouldn't call flight attendant training a rah-rah company exercise )

A good number of crews got stuck in ATL - more than what would typically be in ATL on a typical night. Delta is required to put them up in a room.

As I said, there are a finite amount of rooms in the Atlanta area. Even less when you consider some of the contract stipulations that Delta has to abide by. Delta took care of their employees that needed hotel rooms first.

So yes, I am saying that if Delta employees need rooms due to company IROPS, there are less rooms for Delta to offer to inconvenienced passengers. Not ideal for the passengers, but you need crews to make the operation run.

Vuelos

Probably the 2010 Air Consumer report. I do believe that WN (who led DL in IDB's (1.41/10,000 vs .45/10,000) raw # 11,145 vs 3,310 for Jan-Sept 2010) provides hotel rooms for IDBs

Vuelos

Typically I would disagree as DL will sometimes put people up outside the immediate vicinity of the airport but, over this week, that isn't the case thus shrinking the number of rooms available even more.

Add the stressor of staff (FA's, Frontline & Corporate employees) that were put up and you've got a significant contraction of available inventory. Non-related employees were being "housed" at 2 or 3 per room because that was all DL could do. That doesn't even take into account those who were sleeping at their offices (on virginia ave, in TechOps or at the airport itself).

Not sure how you can come to that realization.

Do consider that the hotels have to provide the rooms to DL to offer. DL pays the hotels less than you will on your walkup rate. Would you put $ on the hotel also being partly to blame. Also, with the IROPS, the hotel inventory around the airport shifted around so much that day you wouldn't believe. I know because I was trying to make booking(s) in the area for that day and what would be available at many Hilton & Hyatt properties would disappear minutes later only to reappear an hour later.

Was Delta required to pay for your hotel? I'm guessing the answer is no as crew issues caused by weather aren't specifically covered. Did they eventually do the right thing (when you got to the people who could do so)? Yes.

MikeMpls

Not true, unless they offer them for VDBs but not IDBs. I've been offered hotel rooms by WN on several occasions for overnight bumps.