OHDL1

"However, why didn't you say something to the GAs if you wanted a C+ seat?"

Especially...if the only remaining C+ seats were middles.

gitismatt

tbh I was just happy to be getting home with a seat at all. but I guess this is why this continues to happen - if people don't complain then it turns into acceptable behavior

SpinzCity

I was flying MSN-MSP-CMH last week; due to leave at 4pm, instead stood by at 6am MSN-MSP; that was no problem, but the 9ish MSP-CMH was really full; waited nervously at the gate for the final pax to board, and I was #1 on the standby list, with one seat left. There were maybe half a dozen on the standby list, and as one of the last pax boards, she says goodbye to an old guy with baseball cap and 5-o'clock shadow, and says she hopes he makes it to Columbus. This was kind of touching. We're waiting around as the seconds tick away, and he comes up to me and asks me what do to if he can't board this flight. I tell him there's a 12:50pm flight we can also stand by for, and he looks a bit forlorn (that flight was also really full).

Almost time for the door to close, and the gate agent calls him up to the podium, and gives him a boarding pass for the last seat. He was #4 on the standby list, and off he goes, and off I go to the Sky Club, to pound on my laptop for the next 3+ hours (did make standby for the 12:50pm, though it was nip and tuck - - Mr. #4 might not have made that one either).

Although I really wanted to get on that 9ish flight and have those extra four hours in Columbus, the gate agent did the right thing. I was free to eat chilaquiles and oatmeal at the lounge, and he got to fly with his clan, likely for the Wisconsin-OSU game. Although part of me was miffed, part of me was really happy for him, and although I felt an underlying resentment toward the GA for ignoring the standby list, I praise her for doing so.

She did the right thing.

flyerCO

How do you know she ignored it? Standby list includes both

• Those not confirmed on the flight and standing by to get a seat and
• Those confirmed on the flight but with no seat assigned andcstandying by for a seat assignment

The latter will clear 1st even though may appear farther down the list.

Zorak

The latter probably don't stand around waiting nervously until boarding is almost complete and only then get handed a BP by the gate agent though.

flyerCO

If not a FF they do. I've seen numerous infrequent flyers getting nervous. They dont grasp that they will be given a seat. I helped reassure one that had bought a last minute ticket they would get on. (They had family on deathbed) You and me get that we'll get on if confirmed, most don't.

WillBarrett_68

Part of the story seems to be missing.

stc

Except if the flight is oversold. If the flight is oversold and they can't get enough volunteers, IME possession of a seat is 99% a guarantee that you will fly. If you didn't have a seat and the flight was oversold, it probably is time to be at least a little nervous. But then Delta seems better at always getting enough volunteers than say United (or even American).

MSPeconomist

DL publishes priorities for IDBs. DOT requires this and also requires carriers to follow their own rules.

flyerCO

As MSP ststes another wording, possession is not 9/10ths the law in this case. IDB requires a set procedure be followed.

sethb

I believe Delta's rules cause a passenger without a seat to be bumped before a passenger with one (though that's not the highest priority rule).

On the other hand, Delta hasn't had an IDB in a while.

stc

Yep. Delta has not had an IDB in 5 or 6 months at this point.

mattp1987

Wow, just looked up the stats. In 2018, Delta paid $820 for 1 IDB in 2018 (they had 2 other IDBs who failed to check in properly and weren't eligible for compensation). AA paid over $1.2 million to almost 3,000 passengers in the same year.

OHDL1

Money (gift cards...) talks

MSPeconomist

It helps enormously that DL GAs and redcoats are empowered to increase VDB offers to get volunteers.