Vindictive Gate Agent
 

I've reported this to corporate customer care but i thought i'd share my experience

2 of us are DM and 1 is GM.

Was flying home this past weekend with 2 other people.

2 people on 1 reservation (DM +GM)
me on my own (DM)

we are in the same row C/D/E in C+ (im in the middle seat)

C/D are #1 & 2 on the first class upgrade, so i asked at check in if I could swap seats with C or D and they told me sure no problem ask the gate agent to do that for you. its not an issue at all.

I asked the gate agent who told me it wasn't possible. He would have to go thru the whole standby list before he could swap my seat.

So I said ok thanks and went to the sky club and asked elite services to help me and they called him and he said "No, i wont do it" she was floored that he said this, and she ended up doing the swap for me there and printed me a new boarding pass. i was now in D, my 2 travel partners were now upgraded to 1st and I had an aisle seat.

go out to board and the app alerted me that the gate agent MOVED ME BACK to the middle seat. So I walked up there and asked, why I'm moved back, I have a paper boarding pass that shows I'm in D. He said "this is my flight, I'm in charge, no-one else can make changes not even red coats can touch my seats!"

I asked to speak to his supervisor and he called another red coat over who was not helpful and they then downgraded me to main cabin cause now all of the sudden my middle comfort seat was not available! At that point I got on the plane and went home. An aisle in main was better than a middle, but this was crazy.

Corp customer care was very apologetic and told me they would file a formal complaint for me. no offer of any compensation (wasnt looking for any, just want him addressed properly)

I'm still kinda shocked at how he wanted to be difficult about this simple request.

Yeah that should be a termination. Do those agents not realize that there's a digital record of everything they do?

If this was in ATL, they will probably just get a written warning unless they’ve been reported before. ATL has some of the worst GA’s in the system that always find a way to stick around.

As an AA flyer, I have to ask...what makes you sure that this is a termination? On AA, the gate agent would get a promotion.

DL won't terminate the SC agent. But, she will be counselled about not undercutting the GA who did have the flight under gate control at the time.

Sorry, that was a typo. I meant that *should* be a termination.

A GA who acts that badly is likely a repeat offender.

this really made me laugh, so very true

OP - sorry this happened - sounds like someone who should be terminated.

A few notes:
*Where did this happen? Which airport
*Was the original defiant GA a Red Coat or not? You indicate both ways in your OP.

A Red Coat’s Manager is an OSM - Operations and Service Manager. Then the Station Manager. Did you ask for either?

This is completely unacceptable. Something tells me the GA had a friend or other interest in clearing the standby list first. Ridiculous and unacceptable, but sadly becoming more common at DL.

SEA

The original GA (was not a redcoat sorry for the confusion) refused to assist me saying it wasn't possible to just swap our seats, so at that time i just assume he didnt know how, so i went to the skyclub to ask for assistance there. (later realized he was being difficult on purpose)

The redcoat in the skyclub called the GA who told her on the phone no he would not swap my seat. So the Redcoat in the skyclub had an agent sitting next to her at the desk to do it for me.

When the GA switched my seat back to the middle, i then asked for his supervisor, and he called another redcoat who was of no help. I didnt know there was yet another person to ask for above the red coat. Today I learn :)

Who has time for all this escalation before the boarding door closes without you??

In such situations I always plan the seat assignments so that the person least likely to get an upgrade is in the best seat.
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Thus if the other(s) get upgraded the remaining person has the aisle (or whatever desirable seat) and if the upgrades don't come through then you self organize however you want on the plane.
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I was there 1.5 hours before my flight. the skyclub. is next to the gate which is a 2 min walk. anymore questions?

yea see, we thought we did that....I don't understand how this worked out... we /thought/ I should have been #1

I paid more for my ticket than the other 2. so I assumed I was in a higher fare class but alas im somehow wrong?

Hindsight is always 20/20

This is a DM asking a very simple task of a gate agent. Even without advance planning, this should have been accomplished quickly and with a smile.

Thank you for the additional detail. Hard to believe SEA is the culprit, but due to DL’s rapid expansion there, who knows who they’re hiring...

There was a Red Coat in the SkyClub? Rare. If I were you, I would have gone back to that person and asked them to call their Supervisor (OSM) to come and address the GA directly.

Do you know what letter fare class you were, and what letter fare class your two companions were?

Unbelievable to me that the Red Coat at the gate was cool with the GA moving a Diamond from C+ to Main for no reason!