Delta celebrates Seahawks, tells Vikings to pound sand
Jan 7, 2016, 2:19 pm
#46
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Ok, if your point is that regional flight service should be factored in, then sure, I agree. If the DOT decides to publish more data, then that's good. But to suggest that DL is engaged in a sinister conspiracy to post artificially high completion percentages ("working the system," as you referred to it in your first post) reeks of tin foil hat paranoia and a burning desire to believe the worst about DL as a company.
The simple fact is that of the major three US carriers, DL is the best operationally at the present time. You know it, I know it, everyone who flies all the time knows it. Meanwhile, if you desperately want to criticize DL, I suggest focusing on the fact that they just increased the mileage cost of the lowest D1 award prices on a lot of international routes without telling anyone...
The simple fact is that of the major three US carriers, DL is the best operationally at the present time. You know it, I know it, everyone who flies all the time knows it. Meanwhile, if you desperately want to criticize DL, I suggest focusing on the fact that they just increased the mileage cost of the lowest D1 award prices on a lot of international routes without telling anyone...
Jan 7, 2016, 2:31 pm
#47
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Originally Posted by mattp1987
It does a lot of good IMO. If the flight still goes 12 hours late, you at least get to your destination (or at the very least to a hub). That's a lot better than having all the passengers on the flight scramble to grab the limited number of seats for the next day's flight(s) that haven't sold yet.
I recently had a 4.5 hour delay on a DL flight to ATL. I missed my connection that night, but I got home on the first flight the next morning. Some passengers did choose to just get rebooked the next morning, but 1) the seats on the morning flights to ATL/DTW/MSP got snapped up quickly, and 2)most people who had to connect wouldn't get in until early afternoon at best. I was glad the flight went in order to minimize delays. This particular flight was from a domestic location with flights to 6 cities that are all at least focus cities, but the cancellation vs delay value proposition would become even more drastic if we were talking about a destination with only once- or twice-daily service (e.g., many international locations that aren't partner hubs or cities like ELP that see 2x daily flights to ATL and nothing else).
It does a lot of good IMO. If the flight still goes 12 hours late, you at least get to your destination (or at the very least to a hub). That's a lot better than having all the passengers on the flight scramble to grab the limited number of seats for the next day's flight(s) that haven't sold yet.
I recently had a 4.5 hour delay on a DL flight to ATL. I missed my connection that night, but I got home on the first flight the next morning. Some passengers did choose to just get rebooked the next morning, but 1) the seats on the morning flights to ATL/DTW/MSP got snapped up quickly, and 2)most people who had to connect wouldn't get in until early afternoon at best. I was glad the flight went in order to minimize delays. This particular flight was from a domestic location with flights to 6 cities that are all at least focus cities, but the cancellation vs delay value proposition would become even more drastic if we were talking about a destination with only once- or twice-daily service (e.g., many international locations that aren't partner hubs or cities like ELP that see 2x daily flights to ATL and nothing else).
Another thing I've noticed about DL is that they're *usually* pretty good about delaying in chunks and delaying early. Obviously there are situations where they don't delay until the last minute and they tell people to wait around by the gate because they don't know when they'll be able to board, but often they've preemptively delayed by an hour or more, which makes it easy to hang out in the sky club and get work done. It's come to my aid twice this year, when I've been able to rebook to an earlier flight due to an early delay notification.
Every time I've experienced a delay on United (so most times I've flown United...), they don't delay until the last minute, and they delay it by about ten minutes at a time over and over again. It's so frustrating.
Jan 7, 2016, 2:34 pm
#48
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I'm not doubting that they all use sleezy tactics to make themselves look better. We've had several reports of DL delaying flights 12+ hours just so they can claim zero cancelations. What good does that do anyone? It's no different than a business using creative accounting to make the finances look better than they really are.
As for your question, it is good for the passengers who need to get somewhere and can't be rerouted any other way. I'll give you an example: A U.S. to South America trip. U.S. to S.A. and S.A. to U.S. trips typically leave at night and land in the early morning hours. If a carrier has a tech issue, it doesn't take long (1-3 hours) before the crew will time out. Typical response is to delay the flight to the morning (i.e. 10-12hrs), re-crew it and send the pax to a hotel. Then they come back take a morning departure and only lose 12hr or so of their trip, instead of at least another day if they were rerouted. Additional benefit is that most U.S. airlines leave their airplanes on the ground in S.A. all day to be used for the overnight flight back. If everything works out well, they can even keep the return flight ontime.
Interestingly enough, this scenario wouldn't count anyway, as international trips are not DOT reportable...(neither are Int'l lost bags) But that gives you an example of why some long delays happen.
I'd say a 12 hour delay is extremely uncommon (rare) for a domestic flight due to the downline problems it will create. Especially if pax can be accommodated some other way.
Jan 7, 2016, 3:41 pm
#49
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Seriously, I love how people get worked up over the dumbest stuff. Being from MN people here needs to grow a pair. Lets Face it, SEA is where DL plans to grow, MSP is as big as it will get. People want to fly Sun country big whup.
No seriously, THE BUSINESSMAN who changed 13 flights over this? Seriously, no way that happens.
No seriously, THE BUSINESSMAN who changed 13 flights over this? Seriously, no way that happens.
Jan 7, 2016, 4:23 pm
#51
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This is a re-post of mine from a recent thread. You all forget that Delta controls what happens to Delta Connection flights. But since the DOT only tracks mainline flights for DL, they come out smelling like a rose. There were only crickets to be heard after I posted this a couple of weeks ago. 
Who do you think tells Skywest and Endeavor which flights to delay or cancel? I have news for you...it's Delta. Delta determines which fights get priority and which ones don't. If there is a CRJ-900 at RDU scheduled to fly to DTW but DL needs that plane to operate RDU-LGA then guess what is going to happen. The regional airlines are paid per flight. Delta determines where those planes end up. Not to mention the major airlines are constantly rebidding regional flying and the regionals are having to compete over pennies. So if you want a more reliable regional operation then you need look no further than Delta managment.
Who do you think tells Skywest and Endeavor which flights to delay or cancel? I have news for you...it's Delta. Delta determines which fights get priority and which ones don't. If there is a CRJ-900 at RDU scheduled to fly to DTW but DL needs that plane to operate RDU-LGA then guess what is going to happen. The regional airlines are paid per flight. Delta determines where those planes end up. Not to mention the major airlines are constantly rebidding regional flying and the regionals are having to compete over pennies. So if you want a more reliable regional operation then you need look no further than Delta managment.
It is true that the marketing carriers often request the regionals to cancel flights so they can substitute other flights into an airport on a GDP. However, what you probably don't know, is that when DL/UA/AA request a cancellation, they still pay the regional for operating the flight (or they pay a percentage of the operation even though the regional didn't operate it).
I actually worked for a carrier that did DLC flying and UAX flying. DL was by far more interested in what happened to it's pax during IROPS and would even offer to help rebook. UA could not have cared less.
The DL/UA requested cancels were a small percentage of our overall cancellations. Trust me, many days we were hoping DL or UA would call and tell us to 86 a few rounds... Regional jets aren't known for their reliability.
Jan 7, 2016, 4:42 pm
#52
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Regional aircraft aren't known for their reliability.
Jan 8, 2016, 8:11 am
#53
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Well of course not. They are worked harder than $2 hooker. If mainline carriers paid the regional airlines a decent price they would be able to keep their aircraft better maintained. As I said earlier, the regionals are having to compete over pennies to keep contracts.
The real issue is that CRJ's (specifically the 100/200s) were originally designed as a business jet (the Challenger). They weren't designed to fly 12-15 flights per day.
Jan 8, 2016, 8:52 am
#55
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Jan 8, 2016, 10:15 am
#56
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DL will be like most Seahawks fans - bandwagon. The moment either 1) the Seahawks start to lose or 2) DL withdraws from the SEA hub, DL won't give a hoot about the Seahawks. Seattle - why all the "12's" everywhere in SEA? - because there's only 12, true, loyal Seahawks fans in Seattle. The rest are riding the bandwagon until it breaks down. 
Jan 8, 2016, 11:22 am
#57
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Please Remain Civil and Stay on Topic
There has been a massive cleanup of off-topic content in this discussion.
Please stay on topic, which pertains to Delta Air Lines “telling the Minnesota Vikings to go pound sand” and not to tell each other to “go pound sand.”
Thank you.
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Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Delta Air Lines | SkyMiles forum
Please stay on topic, which pertains to Delta Air Lines “telling the Minnesota Vikings to go pound sand” and not to tell each other to “go pound sand.”
Thank you.
Regards,
Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Delta Air Lines | SkyMiles forum
Jan 8, 2016, 3:26 pm
#58
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So DL just tweeted
Vikings fans! Delta and our 6,000 strong in MSP are ready to forge ahead on Sunday. #SkolVikings
Actually, I dont think its just now.. but I see a Jan 6 date on my website twitter where i took that from. Dunno why this was in the top...
Vikings fans! Delta and our 6,000 strong in MSP are ready to forge ahead on Sunday. #SkolVikings
Actually, I dont think its just now.. but I see a Jan 6 date on my website twitter where i took that from. Dunno why this was in the top...
Last edited by topcat_dcx; Jan 8, 2016 at 3:26 pm Reason: Date info
Jan 9, 2016, 11:29 am
#59
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Looks like Delta learned from past mistakes. Aggressively neutral:
https://twitter.com/Delta/status/685869981226024961
https://twitter.com/Delta/status/685869981226024961
