Is Delta really different?
 

This is a story about my son's experience yesterday, but it starts a long time ago because it points to a sense I've had that there's something about the Delta organization that is somehow different from other airlines, and which sets them apart in small but meaningful ways. I'm curious if others see it this way as well.

For me it started with my very first flight on Delta. When we checked in for our flight in Asheville, NC, we mentioned to the Delta agent that we were beginning our honeymoon. If I remember correctly, she presented us with a certificate recognizing our "first married flight on Delta" or something like that. Not really such a big deal, but a nice touch. But what really got my attention is when we boarded the plane in Zurich on our return, a couple of weeks later. The Delta FA took one look at our seat assignments and exclaimed, "Oh! You're our honeymoon couple!" As I recall, we got no upgrade nor any special swag or anything, but it really impressed me that the note in our record from Asheville had made it to our return flight in Zurich, and that the FA had gone to the trouble to notice that note and even remember our names or seat numbers to be able to offer a special greeting as we boarded.

Later, I learned about the Spirit of Delta story. Then, I saw the employees' "Keep Delta My Delta" campaign in response to USAir's attempted hostile takeover. And the same kind of spirit seemed to play a part in Delta flight attendants' rejection of the union several years ago.

Perhaps it's because I'm not looking for them, but I don't seem to see things like this happening with other airlines.

On July 4, 2017 (he still remembers the date), my son had two heroes. One was Mikhail Gorbachev, and the other was Ed Bastian. My son's interest in Gorbachev can only be explained by the fact that my son is a very special young man. His interest in Mr. Bastian was perhaps a natural consequence of my son's radical enthusiasm for all things aviation, coupled with my frequent travel and status with Delta, and the resulting vacations on Delta that he has been able to experience. And when I say "vacations on Delta," that's exactly the way my son experiences them. The vacation, for him, is the flying. The destination is important only because it justifies the flights.

So on July 4, 2017, my son (12 years old at the time) sent a letter to Gorbachev and a letter to Ed Bastian. In both cases he asked probing questions about past strategy and future plans, and he "camped out by the mailbox" (not literally) to wait for a reply.

Here it is 2019 and we've all realized that there will be no reply to either of the letters. Did we expect a reply? No. If I were a CEO of a large company I'm sure I would not consider it a responsible use of my time to read fan mail from 12-year-olds. But we did want to encourage the idea that you will never know if you don't try.

Back in November, I think, my wife discovered that a friend of hers from her youth in Atlanta has a husband who works for Delta, in IT, I believe. She wrote to her friend and asked if my son might interview her husband because of his great love of aviation and of Delta in particular. We wanted to set up the interview as part of my son's 14th birthday next month (for his birthday party he has asked that we take him to the Renaissance hotel at ATL so he can spend the day watching takeoffs and landings from a front row seat). The story about the letter came up in their discussions. Evidently this lady's husband has some access to Mr. Bastian's office, because yesterday we received a FedExed package addressed to my son, from Ed Bastian himself. It contained some thoughtful Delta birthday gifts for my son, and the thing that excited him most: a personal letter wishing him a happy birthday and encouraging him to work hard, get a good education, listen to his parents, and follow his dreams. It's clearly not a form letter, and was signed, "Ed."

Just another small thing (but not small to my son) that may be just a fluke. But it's another piece of a puzzle that seems to paint a consistent picture that there's still something special going on with Delta.

Yes, in my experience DELTA is a cut above.

Mikhail Gorbachev was the best leaders of the Soviet Union/Russsia in modern history. I understand your son's interest in the man.

How awesome that you got a personal response from Ed. IMHO DELTA is the best run airline in the US, and it shows.

Call it drinking the koolaid if you will, but I believe their corporate culture, at least from a customer perspective, is second to none.

well it is a Southern company.....maybe that makes a difference in a good way!

I completely agree, but maybe I've been drinking the koolaid too.

After flying many airlines around the world, the least I hope for is for me to get from point A to point B safely. Low bar, I know. But Delta has a reliable operation, and they have invested in a product and a brand that I feel is second to none in the US.

It's always the little things that make the difference, and I've seen DL go that extra step more often than other airlines, be it with IROPS, FE, meals in Y, generally good FAs, and their social involvement.

I think this depends on the tint of rose on your glasses. From a Western perspective, he was great in introducing free market reforms and deescalating the Cold War. On the other hand, he was at the helm of the collapse of the largest nation on Earth as a result of skyrocketing debt and a coup attempt.

Otherwise, agree with the choice of airline!

I just came over to Delta from AA. I noticed the difference in Delta during the first few flights of my Status Challenge. The employees all (at least the ones I interacted with) appeared like they genuinely enjoyed their jobs.That;s certainly not something I saw as much on AA. Also, I remember boarding a DL flight DFW-ATL in F and there was a hand written note from the FA sitting on the pillow and blanket in my seat. I NEVER received that on AA (not saying it doesn't happen just not something I experienced). All in all, I would agree that there is something completely different about the corporate culture in regards to customers at Delta.

HAHAHAHA -- thanks I needed a midday laugh

Every airline (or customer-facing company, for matter) has their bad eggs, but I'm batting way above .500 in terms of positive experiences on DL. I've had more F/As and GAs than I can count who were total stars, and while I'm hardly one who needs to be fawned over, when I'm exhausted from a work trip, it certainly is nice to feel welcomed when I'm on my way home.

I was recently traveling LAX-JFK with my immediate family, and my dad, who is in his 60s and never flies for work, dreads going to the airport, the crowds, and just begrudgingly deals with air travel because he has to. I never thought dropping off a few checked bags could be such a positive experience, but somehow, the LAX ticket agents at Sky Priority checkin helping us out totally charmed my dad - he never makes comments one way or another about customer service staff, and as we walked away, he was like "Man, they must've taken their happy pills this morning."

On the whole, and I know it makes me sound like a fanboy, I do think there is some element of a "Delta difference."

In the past two years, I have flown AA, DL, UA, WN, G4, F9, AS, and HA as a non status traveler in Y. While they obviously all have different rules, seat pitches, IFE, etc., I couldn't tell any difference between any of them when it came to interactions with employees. DL does do a good job of running an ontime operation, which is going to naturally limit the number of "bad experiences" by travelers.

My experience with DL has been consistently better than AA and UA (but I don't fly UA enough to establish a fair comparison). In the last few years, the only airline within the Americas where I've had a better experience than in DL has been CM.

Seriously. Maybe 2-3x per year I'm forced to use UA when DL pricing goes bonkers. I just made one of those trips and experienced a hellish IROPS meltdown (not weather related). This gave me the opportunity to experience UA (and LH, and SK) customer service from top to bottom (checkin, gate, phone and now complaint/refund agents). It's night and day compared with similar meltdowns I've dealt with on Delta. So far, every agent except one (LH phone agent) has been actively unhelpful - truly terrible customer support.

Yes, in my experience DL is much better.

I'll describe it as Delta empowering employees to go beyond the contract of carriage minimum to improve the customer experience, and a fairly high percentage of employees do use this power for good purposes. I also tend to judge a company on how well they perform when things don't go as scheduled, and I've had largely positive interactions with Delta in those times.

Southwest is great at finding pleasant and enthusiastic employees, but also has their share of weaknesses. My experience with them for IRROPS recovery hasn't been great and I think until fairly recently, they kept IT costs contained by running their reservation and scheduling off a Commodore Vic 20. (It's the only explanation I can come up with when they would have months on end when they wouldn't sell a round trip plane ticket from Pensacola to some obscure place like San Francisco.)