Delta Celebrates 100 Days no Cancelations
#31
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 booked on a rolled delay SFO-LAX flight and I sensed trouble so I managed to SDC to the next scheduled one seventy minutes later which left on time. After I got home I saw online my original flight departed eight hours late and the next three scheduled SFO-LAX flights departed BEFORE the first scheduled one. You could drive the distance in less time and see a movie. The pax stuck on the first flight must have had infuriation beyond belief.
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,043
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...009Z/KJFK/KATL
#33
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 367
Lastly - perhaps those of us with status don't appreciate this fact - but cancellations can be very, very bad. I am guarantee you that person in Basic Economy with no status was glad that the flight persisted. Otherwise they may not be able to get rebooked to their final destination for a long time - far longer than the next morning would have been.
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: IND
Programs: DL PM & 2MM™, Lifetime HHonors Diamond
Posts: 20,889
I find it hard to believe that some people can't see the benefit of greatly delaying a flight vs. cancellation. If there are other options, you are in the same boat as if they canceled. If there AREN'T other options, then you are screwed with a capital F.
Delta has operational excellence and operational superiority in the USA and that is a statement of fact.
#35
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ATL
Programs: DL PM 2 Mil Miler, HZ PC, Marriott LT TI, AMB, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 556
Flight 2675? Technically, it was not cancelled, just delayed by 14 hours. Yes, I know it feels like they are cheating. But, it doesn't actually disprove their claim.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...009Z/KJFK/KATL
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...009Z/KJFK/KATL
#36
Join Date: May 2011
Location: AUS
Programs: DL GM, F9 50K, NK Gold...AS MVP 50K soon?
Posts: 213
Small sample size here, but I got hit by a rolling day due to MX (yay M88) a few years back ATL-PBI. Flight ended up being rescheduled to ~12h after when it should've taken off, for a departure time of 6:30a if I recall correctly.
After a wait in line and some persistence, I got a night at the Westin (incidentally, the previous time I had stayed there I had to pay $79 because WN misconnected as a result of WX on the incoming flight). And what ended up being 20K SkyPesos. And I elected to fly out early afternoon rather than 6:30a, which had the side benefit of being on a 717 rather than that same M88. If the original flight had been cancelled rather than 12-hour delayed, I almost certainly wouldn't have gotten the flight I did, as I was on a lowly no-status BE fare for that leg.
As another anecdote, for the most recent conference I booked speaker travel for (something like 20 round-trips), AA canceled two folks flights. One of them ended up having a misconnect on the rebook flight, forcing *another* rebooking. At which point that speaker decided that the entire situation was a lost cause, and I don't blame 'em. Southwest had one cancel/rebook. AA also had a schedule change early on that would've caused a misconnect, so they bumped that person to an earlier flight when I had paid extra for a more reasonable timing.
The most Delta did was move a flight 45 minutes well in advance of flying it. And arriving early JFK-AUS. Padding or not, they were boring in all the right ways. Which is a big reason why I'm rooting for them throwing focus city designation at AUS.
After a wait in line and some persistence, I got a night at the Westin (incidentally, the previous time I had stayed there I had to pay $79 because WN misconnected as a result of WX on the incoming flight). And what ended up being 20K SkyPesos. And I elected to fly out early afternoon rather than 6:30a, which had the side benefit of being on a 717 rather than that same M88. If the original flight had been cancelled rather than 12-hour delayed, I almost certainly wouldn't have gotten the flight I did, as I was on a lowly no-status BE fare for that leg.
As another anecdote, for the most recent conference I booked speaker travel for (something like 20 round-trips), AA canceled two folks flights. One of them ended up having a misconnect on the rebook flight, forcing *another* rebooking. At which point that speaker decided that the entire situation was a lost cause, and I don't blame 'em. Southwest had one cancel/rebook. AA also had a schedule change early on that would've caused a misconnect, so they bumped that person to an earlier flight when I had paid extra for a more reasonable timing.
The most Delta did was move a flight 45 minutes well in advance of flying it. And arriving early JFK-AUS. Padding or not, they were boring in all the right ways. Which is a big reason why I'm rooting for them throwing focus city designation at AUS.
#37
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: DL DM+(segs)/MM, UA Ag, Hilton DM, Marriott Ti (life Pt), TSA Opt-out Platinum
Posts: 3,225
I’ll be be the first to admit that I think the criteria is less than optimal, but if I cared that much, I’d write my congressperson. I think a controllable delay over 6hr should count as an incomplete. (Maybe 10 hr for uncontrollable). Even with that criteria, DL would still come out ahead of its peers.
#38
formerly jackvogt
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: Delta SkyMiles,
Posts: 822
Doesn't padding the schedule make customers happier because they believe their flight has arrived "early"? Similarly, contractors will quote something a little higher than it will actually be so they can come to you and say they were able to do it for a little cheaper than expected? It can be irritating but a lot of people like to think they arrived earlier.
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,230
Doesn't padding the schedule make customers happier because they believe their flight has arrived "early"? Similarly, contractors will quote something a little higher than it will actually be so they can come to you and say they were able to do it for a little cheaper than expected? It can be irritating but a lot of people like to think they arrived earlier.
But that's just a side benefit--I assume DL's main goal is to not arrive late, have strong operating statistics, and gain new business based on that -- hopefully more than enough to offset the costs of padding the schedule, as some posters described above.
#40
Join Date: Feb 2017
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, Alaska MVP, Bonvoy (lol) Ambassador
Posts: 2,994
Doesn't padding the schedule make customers happier because they believe their flight has arrived "early"? Similarly, contractors will quote something a little higher than it will actually be so they can come to you and say they were able to do it for a little cheaper than expected? It can be irritating but a lot of people like to think they arrived earlier.
Also - more or less, Delta seems to aim for an average delay of 0 minutes. They tend to be within +/- 2 minutes in terms of average delay across all flights. I don't even know if you can call that padding - that's just a mean best guest arrival time. Obviously that means that - due to the long tail of delays (a flight can be delayed 3 hours, but it will never be 3 hours early no matter how great the jetstream is) - the median flight will arrive early (indeed, 70-80% of flights will arrive early).
#41
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,265
Call it valuing predictability and better odds I’ll fly my ticket as booked.
#43
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: IND
Programs: DL PM & 2MM™, Lifetime HHonors Diamond
Posts: 20,889
#44
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Huntsville, AL
Programs: DL DM 1.929MM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, IHG Platinum, Avis CHM, Marriott Titanium (lifetime gold)
Posts: 7,858
As a denizen of the inner ring, IME your suspicions are correct.
#45
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Kansas City, USA
Programs: AA Gold, Delta Platinum, Marriott Titanium, IHG Plat, AVIS Preferred, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,066
Hell, if AA could go a day without a cancellation it should be cause for celebration, lol (obviously I'm exaggerating but I feel like I get a cancellation of 50% of my AA flights).