Gate Agent Question
 

Question ... I just want to know if I was lied to.

Can a gate agent in the D terminal call a gate agent in the B terminal ?

((Reason I ask is because I asked an agent to call my connecting gate to find out if I could still make my connection but was told they are unable to do so. After jogging from D to B I missed my connection by "a minute" according to the gate agent -- not a biggie usually except it was the last flight out and spent the night in the terminal)).

Just wanna know if I was lied to ....

Gate Agent Question
 

I know it's possible for the SC to call gates, so I would assume gate to gate communicator was possible. Now whether or not the GA on your second flight had been too busy getting the plane out on time is another story

Agreed. I just got the story from the original gate agent at my arriving gate that they are unable to call and then a customer service person that I asked gave me this story about they have different dispatchers for every terminals and they cannot talk to each other (kinda left my head spinning).

Technical capability and procedural capability aren't the same thing. "I can't do it" doesn't mean the phones and/or hand-held radios don't work. It just means they don't work for you.

Thanks, that's what I figured. Sad to find out the next day that my baggage made the connection but I didn't (it's always been the other way around - lol).

Bummer. If only you hadn't stopped to ask the GA whether he/she could call your departure gate you probably would have made the flight.

Any lessons here?

Did you approach the GA for a hotel voucher? Unless if the delayed inbound was WX related, they probably would/should have given you one.

OP is FO, so it's unlikely that the hotel would have been comped for a weather delay but YMMV.

Adding to that - it's not necessarily the GA's final call when to shut the door. It may have just given the OP a false sense of security to say, yes, you can make it, or even to say no, you can't. How is a GA expected to know how fast someone can run? Or if someone will stop & get a sandwich along the way because they were told they still have time. Beyond that, the GA of the connecting flight would be aware of the location of any connecting pax but still can't necessarily hold for them.

I've sat next to plenty of people on flights coming into ATL who are worried they won't make a connection. My advice is always - run! Because you never know if the on-going flight is delayed or if they might be holding because you're just one of many trying to make it. They know where you are. Stopping to ask a GA to call ahead only takes time away from potentially making the flight. For example, I recall on one flight that was late arriving at ATL, the FA made some announcements about tight connections including saying: 'there are 10 people on this flight connecting to CVG, they're holding for you, but hurry!' In other words, we're giving you a chance, but if you lollygag we'll leave you behind.

I did not ask for a hotel voucher in this case because it was weather related delays. There were so many people stranded in ATL that they made announcements at the customer service desk in terminal B that Atlanta was out of hotel rooms.

I actually didn't delay more than a couple seconds because the gate agent was at the door and I was probably the 4th person off the plane. Our flight attendants were awesome and asked those that were not connecting to remain seated so that we could get off the plane quickly. I was in the first row of economy comfort so I was out the door quickly.

A quick shout out to the Delta pilot that was walking by ... he saw me arriving at my gate and the door closed and he punched his security code walked down the jetway to make an effort to get the gate agent's attention (truly a kind gesture that I never thought I would see).

In 2 years of connecting constantly through ATL it was bound to happen. I guess I am rather luckily to only have it happen once.

I don't know about that. Twice last winter, I had to run from one end of DTW to the other due to ground holds, weather, etc.

The first time, the GA shut the door and sent the plane on its way just as I was approaching the gate. She told me the supervisor didn't authorize her to hold the plane for me.

The second time, nearly the same situation except as I got to the gate, I thanked the GA for holding the plane for me. He said his supervisor told him to shut the door, but he couldn't do that when he knew two PM's were just arriving. Reading between the lines, he had some latitude on when to shut the door.

I didn't have enough time to give him a Job Well Done thingy.

If you are a male over 50, unless you had a recent stress test and know you are clear, I would not run. I never run anyway. I prefer to take my chances and take the next flight. Sorry for the digression. - I know some people have to run.

There was a gentleman that showed up at the gate shortly after I did... He was limping because he had recent hip surgery. He "ran" more like quickly limped from what I saw across from terminal C in an attempt not to miss the connection. He told that his gate agent said the same thing to him to run ... or he could risk it and wait for a wheelchair (it's hearsay as I wasn't there to hear that conversation).

Generally I think most people don't have an issue waiting for the next flight but it's the last flight out and there are no hotels left in the Atlanta area ... most people would run to try to avoid sleeping in the terminal.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...98515059_n.jpg

At least I was in jeans felt horrible for the dude in the suit next to me.

Not least because his face looks beyond sunburned.

:D:D Guess he was flying up from the Caribbean ? :D:D