MCI777

As a person who holds status with Delta (Platinum) and American (Platinum Pro), I am constantly surprised at how good Delta is during IRROPS. Flying SYR-LGA-MCI tonight and DL PROACTIVELY backs me up on SYR-DTW-MCI due to ANTICIPATED (no waiver has been issued yet) storms in NYC tonight. I can honestly say that has NEVER happened to me on AA. Getting AA to change your flight before the sh*t hits the fan is like pulling teeth, Call the Platinum Pro desk and all I get is "I can't, I can't, that's not possible, etc". Usually, Delta is more than happy to help.

Way to go Delta! You're not perfect but you're the closest we have in the industry and that is saying A LOT!

DL-Don

My flight DTW-SDF last week was delayed due to mechanical issues. I called just to see what my options were and was backed up on the next flight (the following morning), had a reservation made at the DTW Westin, and given a $100 expenses credit at the hotel just in case. They ended up flying another plane in from Columbus OH and I got home very late but it was good to know I was covered ... just in case.

Duke787

+1.

I took my first and only trip on AA so far this year over Memorial Day weekend (quite a change from my former EXP days). Was in F on an award ticket for RDU - PHL - BTV. RDU - PHL was delayed and eventually canceled due to MX (GA said bird strike on landing but obviously no idea for certain).

I understand it was Memorial Day weekend but AA was sold out, they were unwilling / unable to push me over to DL / UA / B6 so we had to cancel the trip (wouldn't have gotten there until late Sunday / early Monday so no point).

To add insult to injury when I asked for courtesy compensation due our weekend being ruined (10k would have been fair) they told me to pound sand since I used Iberia miles to book (even though IB had nothing to do with the MX issue).

In contrast, DL always bends over backwards for me when I have delays including allowing broken routings (early this year there were really bad storms in NYC and RDU and they happily re-routed me on RDU - DTW - LGA to jump around the storm even though it wasn't a valid routing on that day)

apodo77

horseymike

flying from bwi to pbi on delta last spring with a connection in atl. when I arrived at the airport to check in I was informed that the bwi - atl was going to be delayed due to mechanical , making it impossible to arrive in atl in time for my atl- pbi flight. I was immediately offered meal voucher and a hotel voucher which I graciously accepted. I was booked on the first flight out the next morning . All went well , arrived home a day later, well fed and well rested thanks to Delta and their ticket agent.

MCI777

KDCAflyer

Why DL is profitable and AA is going bankrupt in the next downturn, in a post.

dls25

To be fair, I have had AA do this for me before. I had a MSP-LGA/JFK-LIM turn into MSP-DFW-LIM at OLCI due to potential NYC weather.

I will concede the point that DL is overall better with IRROPS.

flyerCO

Agree 100%. Its why I even book my KL/AF/MU tickets through DL. In IRROPS the agents are empowered to do what is needed.

GagaPilot

The vast majority of my experiences with DL have been great. And that's why I stay loyal to them. The only really bad IRROP I have had in recent memory was the meltdown that happened as a result of ATL storms about 2 years ago. Stuck in SEA almost 24 hours and had to fly out on WN. That aside, DL seems to recover from MX and WX better than most. And I truly do think status helps. Even meager status... any is better than none! And it seems with the website/app DL is becoming easier to navigate simple IRROPS. Last summer my husband's ANC-ATL flight had a MX delay out of ANC. Once he was in the air I was able to rebook his connection out of ATL. He refreshed his app on landing and had his new BP. Simple.

nystateofmind

danib62

Delta's ability to work around IRROPS is what won me over to them. Back when I was flying somewhat regularly for work I was traveling GRB-MSP-BOS. While I was in a meeting with no internet/phone access my GRB-MSP leg gets delayed long enough that it put my connection in jeopardy. DL calls me and leaves a voicemail letting my know that they switched me to a slightly earlier GRB-DTW-BOS routing that is still on time but if for some reason I can't make that flight I'm still confirmed on my original itinerary as well as a later MSP-BOS flight in case I miss my connection. I should mention that I didn't even have status at this point! After that I flew DL as much as possible.

HDQDD

From the other side of the spectrum, I used to work in System Operations (early 2000s) as a Pax Operations Manager for a regional carrier who flew for both DL and UA. I dealt with both DL and UA SOC daily via phone. Back in those days when ATC issued GDPs, they usually would have us start to pull down rounds to GDP affected airports (i.e. LGA/EWR/BOS, etc.). Calls would usually go like this: "Hey we need you to axe 5 rounds into LGA". We (the management team in SOC) would start looking at which cuts would have the least impact on pax, crews, routing (maintenance), etc. So my part of it was figuring out how to minimize the pax impact. I'd look at flight loads, frequency, re-booking options, etc. etc. DL was always more than willing to help us with rebooking options, perhaps only canceling 4 of the 5 or upgauging/adding a flight later to pick up those left behind. UA could have not have cared less about the pax impact. "Just cancel the damn flights" I was told once.

TL;DR: DL was a treat to work with. It was obvious they cared about customer impact. UA notsomuch.

flyerCO

I love the DL online self rebooking tool. It works even for international flights. I've rebooked YYZ-DTW-NRT-SIN to YYZ-AMS-SIN and others. All without needing to talk with someone.

MCI777

This. I had a MX issue on Delta a few weeks back out of MCI. My Itinerary was MCI-ATL-ORF. The gate agent was willing to do MCI-SEA-ATL(redeye)-ORF but at the last minute a seat opened up on the last MCI-ATL flight. I spent the night in Atlanta and still got to ORF in time for my meeting the next morning.