kettle1

About 15+ years ago I was in ANC and saw a bunch of drunk Alaska Indians (sorry if I should not use that term anymore) shooting Roman candles at each other on the streets of ANC outside a bar. It was a fantastic fireworks show. One of them got nailed and his shirt caught on fire. He was doing the Indian Warrior Dance for about a minute and he put the flames out with his beer.

Someone yelled "Stop, drop and roll!" I love ANC on/around the 4th of July. I had a great time.

Zamees

Current status:

Flight was delayed in ANC while they hunted down an inspection mechanic for overseas international flights. Was a standard required inspection before takeoff. The sick passenger was off the plane quickly, so the 2 hour ground delay was purely for the inspection

Approx 30 mins before landing, the FA announces that the Singapore flight is departing at 8:50, all others are missed connections and will spend night in Narita. Upon landing, looked on Delta app and saw I was already rebooked on Japan Airlines for the morning flight. Deplaned to 5 passenger assistant agents, they provided hotel voucher and bus info to get to hotel. At hotel, received dinner and breakfast vouchers.

So, the question becomes... what should I ask for compensation in miles?

Smyrnaflyer

The delay was not Delta's fault, and they did the best they could to get you on your way. They treated the distressed passenger as you would have wanted. Would you have expected DL to compensate the other passengers for your illness?

MSPeconomist

Did DL send everyone to the same hotel, or were D1 passengers and possibly elites sent to some better hotel? What hotel(s) did DL use at NRT? Also, was the dinner voucher good for a la carte items from the menu in the regular hotel restaurant and room service, or was everyone sent to some special (cheap) buffet for distressed passengers?

Zamees

No idea on how they spread the hotels apart.
The hotel used was the Nikko Narita, included the dinner buffet. Seemed to be an upscale buffet.

@Smyrnaflyer, curious what the CoC says.
The pilots made the choice to divert, Delta was unable to find a mechanic for 2 hours, Delta did not hold the connecting flights for 90 minutes. They likely knew about the diversion well before it happened, so not having the mechanic on hand to get us on way quickly is what really ultimately caused the misconnect. When they first decided to divert, their timetable made it so everyone still had time to connect with minimal delays to connecting flights.

While, I do think Delta handled this in a mostly satisfactory manner, their contract to deliver me to my destination on time was not upheld. It was not weather related, so I question if I am due additional compensation miles.

MSPeconomist

It sounds like DL had to call up a qualified mechanic (perhaps for an aircraft type that doesn't land often at ANC) who wasn't on duty to come to ANC. Perhaps the mechanic had to be flown up from SEA (on the next AS flight?).

OHDL1

Of course you do know that "time" isn't part of the contract?

MSPeconomist

AFAIK hotels and meals aren't part of the contract for a medical diversion since it's not DL's fault.

VegasJosh

DYKWIA much.......
I would have to say no your not on this one, this had nothing to do with Delta at fault, I am pretty sure Delta does not keep a mechanic at every airport in case of diverted flights for medical. In addition to them BUYING you a ticket on another airline, not to mention the cost of hotels and food for the passangers I think they have done quite a lot. Assuming there were 350 people on that and Delta gave just 10k miles that is 3.5m in addition compensation on top what they have already done not to mention possibly saving someones life. I am far from a Delta fanboy or apologist but in this situation I think they did pretty well. You Opinion May Vary

CarmenOM

^^^^^

It sounds to me like Delta did well with a situation that they did not cause and could not anticipate.

Zamees

Not looking to make demands of Delta, just curious for advice, and that has been provided. Thanks.

Another good thing Delta did, the two people (doctors I presume) on board who helped the passenger during the diversion were upgraded to Business Class for the ANC -> NRT leg.

MSPeconomist

IMO this is pretty standard if there are empty BE seats. It's a nce courtesy extended by the purser.

BTW, the medical diversion could have been more complicated if the flight had landed in Canada due to immigration rules.

davetravels

I was in a very similar situation back in the NW days. Flying a loaded B747 SFO/NRT/BKK itin. Sick pax (woman having a possible miscarriage) 45 minutes out over the ocean, which turned into 90 minutes by the time they examined her and radioed the situation back to the Company. We diverted back to Seattle arriving 3 hours after departing SFO and overnighted there. The next day, all of the one-flight-a-day connecting flights were full, so they put me on UA from NRT/BKK. Lost a day in BKK. Gained a nite in Seattle. No comp was offered, and back then, I never really knew such a thing even existed.

The pilots made a choice to divert. Hmmmm. What was the other option? Let the sick pax die on the plane so you could arrive on time?

Well, I'm not necessarily of the thinking that Zamees is a DYKWIA. Some people will ask for compensation for just about anything (as we well know). Personally, I don't want to be labeled as a PIA, so, I save complaints for things that are really bad, that are strictly Delta's fault.

That said, I don't think there's any published or unpublished criteria as to whether or not you're "DUE" any miles as compensation. The Customer Care people will judge this on a case by case basis, on the circumstances and your value to Delta, I think it's fair to say. The few times I have called in to complain, I have mentioned that I RARELY ever complain about anything, and they have ALWAYS said: "I know! I can see that". I'd like to keep it that way for the important stuff.

I don't know if you mentioned whether you were in J or Y. I think as a PM, you would likely get some miles - 5000 / 7500 / 10,000ish. Will you be able to sleep at night?

N639DL

SEA-ANC gate-to-gate is over 3 hours. I'd bet DL has mechanics at ANC, maybe just had to get one to come in since they weren't already on duty.

RobertS975

In this case, an "overweight landing" inspection needs to be carried out by a certified mechanic and noted the aircraft logbook. The inspection looks for any evidence of overstressed metal, popped rivets etc. One aspect that takes time is that various inspection hatches need to be unfastened and then fastened back gain.

Also, brake temps are usually elevated after overweight landings, and they need to cool back to acceptable levels before the aircraft will taxi out. Fuel needs to be taken on, and indeed, the new flight needs to be dispatched with the care and planning that goes into any flight.

A colleague of mine was DTW-NRT in Feb 2015, and they did a med diversion to ANC. There was no overnight delay involved, and many of the NRT connections were held including his MNL flight.