Delta having issues due to snowy US weather, Thursday 12-7-2017
Dec 9, 2017, 9:09 pm
#136
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Minneapolis, MN (MSP)
Programs: DL DM, UA 1K MM, Subway Club Member
Posts: 1,988
No status currently. Due to the ATL and BOS weather, I have to change an itinerary of a flight that's scheduled to depart 5 1/4 hours as this is now a trip-in-vein due to colleagues flights being cancelled. Called 3 hours ago and was given the option to leave my number for a call-back. The recording said the wait is "over two hours." Needless to say at 3+ hours there's been no call-back. DL.com won't let me change my outbound (didn't know DL seems to automatically check you in). Getting worried here.
Dec 9, 2017, 9:36 pm
#137
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: LAS; home will always be DTW
Programs: Delta
Posts: 197
Work sent us home early. As soon as I got in the car, my old DTW snow driving habits kicked in. Which meant I kept a safe distance between me and the car near me with Hawaii plates. I knew that would be a bad movie and I was right. About two miles down the road, I saw the car doing donuts in the intersection. Driver looked terrifed every time he spun around
Funniest sight was when I turned down the main street near my subdivision. My city was attempting to clear the roads. I actually saw a little Parks & Rec backhoe driving in reverse on the street, dragging snow in the shovel part. Every 2-3' it would scoop up the snow and dump in on the vicinity of the sidewalk.
I guess you make do with what you have at hand
Dec 9, 2017, 11:09 pm
#138
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: BUR
Programs: AA, DL Platinum, AS, AF/KL, UA, VS, HA, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 1,788
Was your original flight canceled or delayed by more than 90 minutes? If so, you can get a refund (see Atlanta Waiver). I'd just wait until later in the week once things have cleared up and call in, since this is IRROPs you don't need to cancel before departure. You can also fill out DL's on-line IRROP refund form at https://www.delta.com/contactus/iropForm, it's not automatic but you get an email immediately confirming the submission and, IME, they get processed in about a week.
Hope the call-back doesn't occur in the middle of the night!
EDIT: At 12:08am, almost 9 hours after opting for a call-back instead of waiting on hold, DL called.
Last edited by Oakshadow; Dec 10, 2017 at 11:43 am
Dec 10, 2017, 10:06 am
#139
Join Date: May 2002
Location: STL
Programs: DL PM/1MM, DL SkClub LT, Marr LT Plat, IHG Plat, HH Diam
Posts: 2,001
The comments on DL's FB page from the kettles are quite amusing if you're looking for entertainment this morning. https://www.facebook.com/delta/
Dec 10, 2017, 10:11 am
#140
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: DL DM+(segs)/MM, UA Ag, Hilton DM, Marriott Ti (life Pt), TSA Opt-out Platinum
Posts: 3,227
The big problem with the entire situation is also what Delta has caused, which is closing all of the other local Southern hubs (MCO, MEM, downsizing at CVG even) and routing EVERYTHING through Atlanta........its a great business model but there is so much traffic routed through ATL that if its not a perfectly clear day its hard to get flights in and out on time......add de-icing or any other number of weather issues and you have a recipe for disaster.
Dec 10, 2017, 10:17 am
#141
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Atlanta, GA (KATL)
Programs: Delta SkyMiles KM, Sky Club/Priority Pass, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 458
Crews from both MSP and DTW have been in ATL since Friday to deice aircraft.
Dec 11, 2017, 12:01 pm
#142
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Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
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Posts: 100,407
The problem is that DL *is* Southeast.
But CVG is almost in the south?
I guess you're the expert, but I'v never seen it take that long to de-ice an aircraft. IME it's about ten minutes, under that for a narrow body and a bit more for a wide body plane. However, I have seen longer de-icing delays at the beginning of winter as the new equipment operators get up to speed and those from last season remember the routine. The drive through de-icing stations are slick, almost like a car wash. [ADDED: I'm counting de-icing time from the time I first hear or see the fluid in FC (on wide bodies, in business class or on the upper deck of a 747 or A380) until the aircraft moves, not including any positioning time before the operation actually starts but including any checks afterward.]
This whole mess reminds me of a weather event in ATL in early January, probably about fifteen years ago. I was flying into ATL from MSP on (PM)NW and we left on schedule, arrived early, and drove right up to our gate where an employee (GA?) was waiting to operate the jetway for us. I walked off, grabbed my checked bag (which was already out on the belt when I got to baggage claim), and was out of the airport a few minutes before we were officially scheduled to land. No problem.
However, that same little dusting of snow caused a DL meltdown that day which lasted through my meeting in Atlanta. Arriving DL aircraft were sitting on the runway typically for about ten hours waiting for gates. In some cases, after waiting all way, passengers were deplaned by stairs onto icy tarmac. I recall a guy who arrived a day later than anticipated and raced to his own presentation only to be forced to return to the airport to search for his checked bag. The story at that time was that DL at ATL owned eight pieces of de-icing equipment (IIRC at that time the equipment came to the gates to "visit" departing aircraft), but only five were in operating condition and DL had only enough trained employees to actually operate three.
To leave ATL, I had a 6 am flight and my hotel concierge told me that I should leave for the airport at 2 am as the roads were expected to have another dusting of snow. I ignored that, left around 4 am with no problem, and still arrived at ATL before the check in counter was open. I remember a long line at Starbucks post-security as nothing else in the airport was open.
There are plans to get aircraft de-iced quickly. I don't think you understand how long it takes to de-ice a single aircraft. It can take 20-30 mins for a narrowbody and 40 mins-1 hour for a widebody...no matter how many de-ice pads or trucks you have, you're still limited by the amount of time it takes to actually spray the plane...
Weather is one of those "occupational hazards" we should all be prepared for...similar situations have happened to all the major carriers.
Weather is one of those "occupational hazards" we should all be prepared for...similar situations have happened to all the major carriers.
This whole mess reminds me of a weather event in ATL in early January, probably about fifteen years ago. I was flying into ATL from MSP on (PM)NW and we left on schedule, arrived early, and drove right up to our gate where an employee (GA?) was waiting to operate the jetway for us. I walked off, grabbed my checked bag (which was already out on the belt when I got to baggage claim), and was out of the airport a few minutes before we were officially scheduled to land. No problem.
However, that same little dusting of snow caused a DL meltdown that day which lasted through my meeting in Atlanta. Arriving DL aircraft were sitting on the runway typically for about ten hours waiting for gates. In some cases, after waiting all way, passengers were deplaned by stairs onto icy tarmac. I recall a guy who arrived a day later than anticipated and raced to his own presentation only to be forced to return to the airport to search for his checked bag. The story at that time was that DL at ATL owned eight pieces of de-icing equipment (IIRC at that time the equipment came to the gates to "visit" departing aircraft), but only five were in operating condition and DL had only enough trained employees to actually operate three.
To leave ATL, I had a 6 am flight and my hotel concierge told me that I should leave for the airport at 2 am as the roads were expected to have another dusting of snow. I ignored that, left around 4 am with no problem, and still arrived at ATL before the check in counter was open. I remember a long line at Starbucks post-security as nothing else in the airport was open.
Last edited by Canarsie; Dec 11, 2017 at 10:03 pm Reason: Consolidation.
Dec 11, 2017, 12:04 pm
#143
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: DL (ex-NW) Plat pining for self-serve WC's and real cheese
Posts: 715
Wow it's a shame that DL doesn't have any hubs that can handle cold weather/snow/ice. *Cough, MSP/DTW/SLC, cough.* A shame they insist on routing so many flights through ATL when they could spread them out somewhat more.
Dec 11, 2017, 2:02 pm
#144
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Join Date: Jun 2008
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Dec 11, 2017, 6:23 pm
#145
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Dec 12, 2017, 8:22 am
#146
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,231
Blah! Now I'm wondering if I'm a now show, which I will be, and the originally scheduled flight takes off if would I still be able to make the fee-waiver changes. The flight is scheduled to depart 11:45pm Pacific. Originally called at 3:20pm. It's now almost 8pm. I hope these agents are friendly and flexible when I eventually talk to them.
which they did, but we ended up making separate arrangements. I wasn't about to spend my vacation on hold with Delta to cancel the rebooked flights, and so technically we no-showed, but they still refunded the tickets no problem when I sent in the request electronically after returning from the trip.