TallyCast

Last Thursday Ms. TallyCast and I took off from Regan National on DL526. A few minutes after takeoff, there was an unusual sound from the starboard engine and a change in altitude and direction. A few moments after that, the pilot announced that there was a minor engine problem and that the plane would be landing at another airport. That ended up being Dulles where we were met by a whole lot of firetrucks and other emergency vehicles.

Once the mechanics had determined that there wasn't an immediate danger, we were taken to a gate, deplaned and in about an hour, loaded onto a replacement airplane for our trip to Atlanta.

During the incident, the flight crew were awesome, providing what information they could, being calm, and professional.

The red coat in the gate area was a different story. She didn't have much information to share, but did announce twice at the gate, and once on the plane during boarding, that we would all be getting a survey, and that it was very important that we give her a "5" on every item or it "wouldn't count". Just a hint to the gate crew. After a stressful flight, asking pax to give you an upvote is probably not the best way to win friends.

mnbp

Incident: Delta MD90 at Washington on Aug 25th 2016, engine compressor stall

pgh234

I am not surprised at the red coat comments at IAD. They were like "Station of the Year" in 2013 and were indeed awesome. The past year there...they have sucked.

Just recently they convinced me to get off of an oversold flight for a voucher. I agreed and asked the red coat how much it was for...she said she needed to check. She then printed a TAXI voucher to DCA and said thanks for helping us out.

I asked for VDB comp or to get back on the flight...she denied both. DL eventually gave me $100 for my hurried ride to DCA at rush hour and losing my luggage on an international journey for two days because of it...

Widgets

That's a very dumb thing to say. It definitely counts, so it was a dumb thing to say, and it was a LIE. I don't like liars.

JKPFlyer

I think what she was trying to say that if you didn't give her the highest mark (5) it was treated like getting a 1. I have had several customer service reps make that statement to me. They stated that the company considered anything less than perfect as a fail.

MSPeconomist

I think the GAs comments should be reported to DL. People on the flight should also be sure to fill out the survey and give ONES to the GA for this inappropriate behavior.

piper28

I'm real tired of companies that do that. I'm sorry, unless things are exceptional, it's not 5 stars. I don't give 5 stars for average service, and if as a company you're going to treat anything other than 5 as failing, then you're using the system wrong. If the choice is pass or fail, only give us two choices. And I *really* don't like employees that point out that anything other than a 5 for them is considered failing. Quite honestly, that's a problem between you and the company, and if they're going to give me a survey with 1-5 as my choices, then I'm entitled to use it as a scale of 1-5.

pvn

not to excuse that, but why would you ever take VDB while on an international trip without knowing exactly what the accommodations are? Especially with checked bags???

Scott H

+1 my friend

Renes Points

Delta folks only get paid bonus money when it is all 5's with "Strive for Five"



Via: http://paybackincentives.com/about-us/testimonials

pvn

You're certainly "entitled" to use it however you want, but if you're aware of the fact that "5" is passing and "1-4" are failing and you don't actually use that information when you make the decision as to what button to push, you've got some serious issues. You're basically punishing employees just so you can be a huge, stubborn nitpicker, and the point you think you're making is A) about someone who isn't even being graded and B) isn't going to have any impact anyway.

dinanm3atl

Report it. Plain and simple.

Widgets

For "would you recommend Delta" which is used for bonus pay, it's 5 vs not-5 since 1-4 are variations of "not recommend" to "probably would." 5 is the only definite recommendation.

For other survey questions like priority bags to claim or TSA line wait, the goal is between 1-5, so giving a 4 for TSA line wait would be helpful if the goal is 3.7.

MSPeconomist

Based on the recent security line reconfiguration at MSP, I suspect that the goal for TSA line wait is 1. Maybe this is DL's new strategy to deal with overbooked flights without paying VDB/IDB comp.

OHDL1

Ummm....it's not all "Delta folks". Reading the link it mentioned "SkyBucks"...isn't that a flight attendant only program?