Plaatinum

So I will keep this as brief as I can. Yesterday my wife and I were upgraded at the gate MAD-JFK but our two children were not - We had not requested upgrade so it must have been an oversold situation (we are both Delta Platinum and were actually connecting from another flight in MAD). Anyway taken a bit by surprise we did not decline the seats figuring that at least two of us would be a little more comfortable. This is where it got messy:

My son and I sat up front with my wife and other child in Comfort Economy (two rows from the curtain separating the Business and Economy cabins). After take off and when the seat belt sign was off I went to check in on them. My intention was to switch seats with my wife so she would be more comfortable but she was already watching a movie so she asked me to come back in an hour.

When I returned to Business class I was immediately approached by a flight attendant and told that it was an FAA rule that under no circumstances was I allowed to cross cabins while in flight. I explained to her that it was in fact Delta that had split up the family but she just shook her head and walked off.

Fast forward an hour and my three year old son shows up from Coach to my seat because he wants his doll which was in my bag as we had not planned on being split up (At this point my wife doesn't know that I had already been chastised by the flight attendant). I get his doll and take him back to his seat in coach to his mother. I start to explain to my wife that they are giving me a hard time about crossing the different cabins - then the same flight attendant shows up and starts to berate me and tells me that I have already been warned and that she is going to inform the captain. After some back and forth over "the rules" which included the attendant saying something to the effect of "I am not calling you a terrorist, after 9/11 blah blah these are the rules...".

I return to my seat in Business and the same flight attendant shows up with a piece of paper (I am assuming the manifest) looks at my seat number and writes something down but says nothing. I perceive this as a threat of some sort but say nothing.

Meanwhile in Coach my son spills something on himself so my wife asks one of the attendants there if he can help her and go to business class to ask me for a set of extra clothes to which he responds just go ahead yourself. She explains to him that they had been giving us a hard time, FAA rules etc and he claims that it is nonsense that the rule doesn't exist but agrees and comes to the forward cabin to ask me for the change of clothes.

Worried about the "captain being informed" I stick to my seat but notice that when I got up to use the lavatory she was eying me like a hawk as if I were going to jump the curtain again. About an hour or so before landing I wrapped up the sandwich that my son had not eaten and passed it through the curtain to another flight attendant to pass to my wife who took it without question.

Just like the wind she reappeared and starting going on about repeated violations to which I responded that I hadn't actually crossed cabins merely handed over a sandwich to the other attendant to pass to my wife - well apparently that was illegal too! She made more remarks which included things like perhaps I was not accustomed to flying in premium cabins etc which I could rant about but I just said that I didn't want any trouble and returned to my seat for the duration of the flight.

So the question is who is right? - Does this rule indeed exist? There seemed to be disagreement among the other attendants. Was this woman just an overzealous enforcer? Any one know? My wife was so angry about the situation she wants me to write a letter to Delta. Any insight from the community?

Thanks!

nytraveller53

Congrats on that...

Seriously, though, sounds like you had a horrible crew to begin with. YOU should of said something along the lines of, "What is your name? I'd like to write to Delta about you."

ClipperDelta

Yes, there is a DHS rule that passengers on all international inbound flights to the U.S. (on U.S. carriers only?) are not allowed to cross cabins during the flight, even if families are split up. They almost always announce this during the boarding/welcome PA. That being said, some FAs allow it while others follow the rule book on this.
Delta's JFK base has some very very new/junior flight attendants so some of them may not be overly familiar with all the rules, hence the disagreement, I suspect.

spc354

Provide Delta with a copy of your post here, and ask about the rule. Another option in this situation is to ask for the purser, and "politely" seek verification, indicating that you do intend to pursue this upon arrival. Too bad that this spoiled the overall experience for you.

Please post an update once you have heard from Delta.

dl767captain

This is my favorite part of the entire story!

Seriously though, I've never heard of this being a problem before. On another Delta flight my dad and I got separated (told him to fly Delta more if he wanted an upgrade!) And I went back and forth multiple times, never had a problem, FA even held the curtain back for me

reed2x

The first thought that came to my mind is that your son plays with dolls Get him some gi joes.

That's horrible how they treated you and your family. I've certainly never had a problem going back through the curtain, whether to visit a family member, the lav, or just to take a stroll.

But I do recall a time or two when the fa has blabbed something about safety/FAA when a coach pax barges through the curtain.

airmotive

I've heard the announcments about remaining in your cabin...but always assumed it was to keep a family or group of four or more from upgradding one seat to BE and using that seat in shifts as the sleeper cabin, while the rest of the group remains in coach. I am wondering if one of the air marshals had spoken with your FA to cause your situation?

(I had observed a small contingency of businessmen make just such an arrangement on an AA ORD-DEL flight....they were quite angry when the FA informed them that they weren't going to be allowed to sleep in shifts in the forward cabin. They were even more agitated when they realized it was the junior guy whom they had tasked with making the arrangements was the one who got the comfy chair, because it was his name on the manifest.)

53flyer

While your experience was unpleasant, I don't believe it meets the definition of "horror", except perhaps for number 9 below.

hor·ror
 
1.
an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear: to shrink back from a mutilated corpse in horror.
2.
anything that causes such a feeling: killing, looting, and other horrors of war.
3.
such a feeling as a quality or condition: to have known the horror of slow starvation.
4.
a strong aversion; abhorrence: to have a horror of emotional outbursts.
5.
Informal . something considered bad or tasteless: That wallpaper is a horror. The party was a horror.
6.
horrors, Informal .
a.
delirium tremens.
b.
extreme depression.

–adjective
7.
inspiring or creating horror, loathing, aversion, etc.: The hostages told horror stories of their year in captivity.
8.
centered upon or depicting terrifying or macabre events: a horror movie.
–interjection
9.
horrors, (used as a mild expression of dismay, surprise, disappointment, etc.)

NHFL9

I was once spoken to about using the lav directly behind the BE cabin on a 752 JFK-DUB flight. When I explained to the FA that the BE lav had been occupied for over fifteen minutes, she let it go. So they do seem to enforce this rule, but really not sure what purpose it serves.

rathin100

Delta flight attendants seem to be quite pompous....

rylan

Even if it is a DHS rule (and stupid in my opinion, as is most of the DHS and all of the TSA), I would still write Delta and complain about the rude and obnoxious behavior of the FA. They could've explained it to you and been polite instead of being over the top rude. If it was truely an issue, the FA could've helped to accommodate the situation by bringing whatever items they needed to your wife and child.

GaryO3

Well, if this is a rule... I wish it would be enforced. I really hate having to wait on the restroom because someone has come up from Y

cgchu

It's been my experience as well when flying International. Crossing the curtain is not allowed but the FAs will often let it slide if going a BE passenger is going to coach (to use the lav or whatever). When going the other the way, it's like crossing the Mexican border. You might make it, but they're watching for you.

HongKonger

How can DL upgrade two adults traveling on a PNR with 2 small children? That is the root of the problem and it is their fault.

mikeef

The horror is not the actual experience of the OP (which was really horrible customer service, but not something that would send me to the shrink), but rather, the fact that any airline employee can do just about anything they want and get away with it by stating, "But 9/11!"

Most airline employees are excellent. A few, as the OP found out, are just jerks.

Mike