FlyBitcoin

Don't forget that DL is still getting passive revenue from their AMEX partnership, not to mention annual fees from some that pay for SC access.
Sky clubs could certainly purchase some catering from other restaurants inside the airport who could use the support.

DL had way too much "service" on the way down when people knew better and stopped flying.
DL flew nearly empty planes for a month with much better phone coverage and airport staffing burning cash in a fit of denial, in addition to a hard line stance to avoid cash refunds. That strategy looks really bad right now in retrospect.

Now they have increased fares to appropriately combat the empty middle seat load factor, but have denigrated even the most basic services (I am talking about PEOPLE at ticket counters and on phones, not food or alcohol on board) to a level not worthy of the fares charged.

One has to wonder when cost cutting might affect safety. it is hard to draw the line when the cost slashing hits every other department.

smartytravel

It will take 2nd and 3rd wave, 500k more deaths in the US alone, and only when their families are personally affected.

Otherwise, egoism will continue thriving, with “me, me, me” screaming.

Delta has done an AMAZING job. They decided to take losses on each flight to give more protection to the public by decreasing the amount of people allowed on planes.

Thats is the airline that is an example and a role model of stellar customer service and care of passengers.

spudley007

I had a trip I had to take last week, booking last minute. American had more convenient times and was cheaper. However, looking at the seating charts and comparing it to Delta's policy of open seats, I flew Delta. While it made me feel a bit more comfortable, it made my family feel even safer. The FAs on all three flights were outstanding and did what they could. I was skeptical to fly, but Delta not packing the planes made it a joy to travel, even if I gave up some alcohol in first.

sethb

[QUOTE=TXguy;32455523The blocked seats are not a cost-saving mechanism. In fact, they are GREATLY increasing costs (by having to fly empty seats around). That is a very pro-customer, pro-public health move.[/QUOTE]

If they wanted to be pro-health they'd enforce mask wearing.

ND76

+1

My experiences on Delta since the COVID crisis started are very positive. I'm not getting a PDB from a FA, but the planes are clean, everyone on Delta's staff has been friendly to me, baggage check still works very efficiently and the trips have gone well. The airline is trying to limit the interaction between employees and passengers for a valid reason. If you want food, you can bring your own through security; in ATL, many of the food choices are open. If you want bottled sodas, you can buy them post-security. If you want to mix them with something, miniatures are your friend and you can put them in your quart baggie to clear security.

BearX220

There are still so many unknowns about the virus, you can err on the site of caution, or err on the "No big deal, everyone's going to die sometime" side. An airline that is a safety-forward organization belongs in the former camp. Otherwise, why seat belts and safety demos? Why any risk mitigation policies?

If on the other side of this thing, we look back and see a second COVID wave killed as many as the first, solely because of individual behavior choices, I would not want to be Frontier in that after-action report. I would want to be New Zealand.

The big divide is not liberal-versus-conservative, red-versus-blue, etc., no matter how people want to politicize the pandemic. It is between those willing to modify their behavior in solidarity with / support of their community (even when their temporary "community" is an airplane cabin) and those who aren't. Some people do not see themselves as part of a community, just as individuals. The whole pandemic is an interesting litmus test in that regard. (Long before the virus broke out I thought it was possible to separate the freqent-flyer cohort, as seen on FT, into two subgroups: those who see flying as a community experience, and are generous with help and support to fellow passengers, and those who see flying as a brutal Hobbesian competition for scarce amenities and resources, and labor to outfox or out-status other passengers.)

i have to agree with you there, especially in light of all the pressure they're getting to relax the restrictions, fill the planes, and let people take their chances. It's even coming from their own employees angry about having to buy tix on WN because there's no non-rev space on DL. Funny how people don't resist fastening seat belts although the chances of getting pulverized on a plane are somewhat lower than contracting coronavirus.

No_Name

On all my flights, there was mask wearing. Delta even would provide masks.

rylan

Yeah I thought that DL requires pax to wear masks. In fact it is stated on their website. All of the major US airlines require pax to wear them.

puddinhead

I’m outraged that you used the trigger word offensive.

ethernal

Good god, some of the posts in this thread are ridiculous.

OF COURSE Delta is using COVID-19 as an "excuse" to cut service. Some of it is for genuine public health, and the other half of it is to avoid literal bankruptcy. Delta literally put out an earnings warning last week that they expected Q2 revenues to be down by 90%. Do you know of any industry anywhere that can survive that type of revenue collapse for very long?

Quite frankly, Delta couldn't care less about your cocktail right now. Their #1 focus right now is reducing costs, and unfortunately variable costs like plane catering are easier to cut than fixed costs (which they are also working on, as evidenced by some early retirements).

Does this suck? Yes. Is Delta leadership happy about alienating their customers with crap service? No. Does Delta wish they could snap their fingers and make everything go back to the way it was the last week of February? You betcha. But none of that matters, because right now Delta's strategic priority is avoiding bankruptcy. Every single action they have taken - including the over-aggressive cutting of flights - is centered around stemming cashflow losses.

Even if you don't believe the social distancing measures are worthwhile (hint: it's probably better than nothing), it doesn't matter. Outside of the seat blocks Delta would have cut everything anyways because they have to. Every dollar they spend on your gin and tonic or food service is another fraction of a second that ticks off the clock that is floating above Delta's head until their future is put in the hands of their creditors and a bankruptcy judge.

You're way better off with a Delta that survives this than the alternative. In normal times, Delta would just re-organize in bankruptcy, but these are not normal times, and there is no guarantee that the Delta that you know and love comes out the other end. It is quite likely that one of the US4 will cease to exist by the time this is over. Delta is trying to make sure they are at least the last one standing.

ethernal

Oh.. and apologies for the double-post but here's a couple more facts:

• Delta cut their schedule deep. Everyone is questioning why they cut it so much - to the extent it is possible to find routes. Do you know why? It's pretty simple. Virtually every plane they fly right now loses money on a variable basis. Great, demand is up, so I fly more planes... guess what? That means Delta loses money faster. They are in the unenviable position that they lose money flying. Even for those of you who wave their hands and say "remove the seat block" only does so much. Their high margin flyers are gone. At best, removing the seat block will help them better cover their variable costs. But at the expense of excess capacity further suppressing fares.
• The revenue depression for the legacies for domestic business travel is going to go on for a long time. Leisure is coming back - in fits and starts - but business travel is as dead as a doorknob. Any employee who doesn't absolutely have to travel is not traveling. Firms in most industries are hunkering down and cutting costs - and travel is one of the easiest to go, especially in this environment that has normalized remote meetings. Even if the virus disappeared tomorrow, there is a ton of scar tissue: all major conferences are cancelled this year, the entire industry around event planning is temporarily dying, and big engines of business travel - like consultancies - are laying off people in mass. This scar tissue will take a long, long time to come. Even if the economy's recovery is V-shaped (unlikely), the high-margin business travel market will be exceptionally slow to recover.
• International is dead. The US's inability to contain the virus means that tourism and non-essential travel to international destinations is just gone. The US is not making any country's short-list for reopening international flying. In the unlikely event that the EU lets us into their block for non-essential travel, expect a mandatory 2-week quarantine requirement.

cmd320

Few are arguing that this is anything other than a cost savings. I think the biggest issue for most of us is that we fly DL because it has created a brand that at least feels a bit more premium than its competitors within the US and now we are surprised that even AA, the airline run by the village idiot, is currently offering a more premium level of service, a better schedule, and has been far more accessible as of late. The way DL has handled most of this is downright incompetent and it seems as though the rudderless ship has sailed from AA to DL.

If I'm flying Y, then yes, I would continue to select DL, but I certainly am not paying for F on DL these days. Yes, AA isn't blocking seats to the same extent DL is, however whether I sit 12 inches away from someone seated next to me in F or 18 inches away in Y with the middle blocked, it's not going to make a bit of difference.

As the customer, I don't really have much of a vested interest in whether DL survives or doesn't. I'm not a shareholder and I don't live in a captive city so there are other options and in that scenario I'm sure some other operation will come in and pick up the pieces. With that said I highly doubt DL will not survive, if the past has shown us anything it's that it is extremely difficult to kill off a major US airline these days, the government just doesn't want to let it happen.

FlyBitcoin

The problem is enforcement when you get someone who takes off their mask to take a sip of Dasani and leaves it off.
While not wearing a mask is technically a violation of crew orders and you could be met on the destination Jetway by some law enforcement, they have not enforced it to this level instead allowing passengers to claim a "medical reason".

I have been a physician for 30 years and we have not learned a single contraindication to a simple, ear-loop mask that allows for full inhalation unimpeded around the edges of it. None. Zero. Never in my hospital career have we NOT put a mask on someone because of a "medical" reason where the mask was otherwise needed to protect themselves or those around them.

If you can't wear an ear loop mask for a flight, then you definitely can't handle the cabin pressure at altitude. Get in your car and drive instead.

MSPeconomist

In this morning's TV news, I caught part of a brief story (no idea what network) saying that DL will start doing COVID-19 testing on customer-facing staff. Does anyone know anything about this?

ethernal

AA is taking a massive gamble. AA was already the weakest financially entering this and they knew that they would not win a long war of attrition. AA is betting on either (a) this being over quickly and recovery being "V-shaped", (b) government support keeping them afloat, or (c) bankruptcy would have been inevitable for them anyways.

United and Delta are both taking a more conservative approach, presumably because they feel that they have a chance to weather a long storm without relying on the government or luck (rapid recovery, which is looking increasingly unlikely).

Southwest is being more aggressive, but that is because they have a stalwart balance sheet that they feel protects them - and also focus on a market more likely to recover more quickly.

I really don't see how DL has bungled their response. What about their response has been incompetent? I would argue the only incompetence they have expressed is their continued Delta.Dumb issues with online service forcing more phone calls than necessary. Other than that, what have they done wrong? Again, keep in mind that right now every plane they fly loses them money, so saying "they should have more flights" is the same as "I want them to run into bankruptcy faster."