Frogbone

No 1 on upgrade list with 0 seats in F available.
Passenter in 1A is unable to sit in her seat due to leg injury and fixed center armrest. She needs a row of seats without armrest to elevate her leg.
First class FA sends her back to 11A-11C to take the whole row.
11A shows up and FA gives her 1A. 10 minutes later 11C shows up and FA gives him 1B.
At $879 for a one way MSP- BGR I would have hoped to get the upgrade and one of the two other pax would have gotten my seat.
Asked FA about it but was blown off. GA comes on to close the flight, FA explaines what he did to him and he just shrugs his shoulders. Nothing he can do now. Closed door, off we go.
OF course, add insult to injury my IFE isn't working either lol.
Not the end of the world but curious if this was handled correctly or not.

COYG

To my understanding complimentary upgrades are processed by GA who does the seat assignment before borading. FAs do not really care about maintaining the upgrade list.

flyerCO

Disability accommodation always trumps anything else.

Frogbone

I'm not questioning them accommodating the disability... Read again

ATOBTTR

I think it can be argued that this was an OpUp/swap out of necessity (to accommodate the disability) which means the easiest solution for the person with the disability was made while also playing as little musical chairs as possible. You didn't say where you were seated, C+ or Main Cabin. But Row 11 (11A/B/C) was probably the easiest option for placing the disabled passenger (and for sure C+). The other passengers certainly shouldn't have been downgraded to a "worse" seat just so you could have been upgraded, and yours very may well have been worse (keeping in mind "worse" can also be somewhat subjective).

While it may feel like you were "robbed", you really weren't.

MSPeconomist

It sounds like the people sent to 1A and 1B were random strangers, so seating them in FC violated DL's seat blocking policy.

Where was the OP seated and how close to departure did the person with the leg injury board? When did the OP board and did he/she attempt to identify self to GA as #1 on upgrade list before boarding? Did OP ask whether GA planned to pull up elites from coach if FC seats became available after boarding?

I can understand why this happened, but question the process if there was time to do the seat arrangements properly and in a way that would be consistent with DL's published policies for elite upgrades. OTOH I can also understand the rationale to not give 11A and 11C worse seats. If C+ were full, someone (at least one) other than OP would need to be sent to FC as two people needed to be evicted from C+ to accommodate the passenger with the leg issue (who really should have purchased two C+ seats IMO).

Normally someone with a broken leg would pre-board, which should have occurred at about T-40 before scheduled departure time, depending of course on aircraft type and other details. It should also be obvious to someone needing an entire section of seats with moveable armrests that FC doesn't offer viable seating arrangements and moreover that the additional seats should have been reserved in advance of boarding. With moveable armrests in FC and DL's current seat blocking policy, I guess the passenger would have been able to put the injured leg on the adjacent seat when seat belt signs were off, but I'm not aware of any airline that currently has moveable armrests in FC.

Frogbone

Person with broken leg pre boarded.
I boarded with F cabin/ DMI was seated in 12C, right behind that passenger.
I did not know she moved from F to row 11 until later in the boarding process when 11A and 11C showed up.
Yes, two strangers were seated next to each other in 1A and 1B.
As soon as the FA sent 11C to 1B I get his attention and explained to him that I was number 1 on the upgrade list and I inquired why two random people that were not on the upgrade list were sent to F. I know from their reaction that they weren't frequent travelers.
All passengers in question were seated in C+ , row 11 and 12 on a A319

MCO Flyer

I’d assume since the 2 people who were bumped up to FC weren’t ticketed in FC and were in C+, they traded having an empty middle seat between them to having a fixed large center console instead in FC (seat density is the exact same in FC as C+ with middle seats blocked). This was probably the simplest solution for the FA/GA as perhaps the person sitting in the same row as the OP was a non-medallion not on the UG list and it would have been difficult to process an UG.

Bradhattan

Hey OP, I totally sympathize with you...yes you should have been offered the upgrade....in 1985 (randow pick) this may have happened for an elite, but Delta (and any other airline) will support the team for an on time departure (yes I know, I know probably relatively small amount of time to upgrade properly), even if it pisses off an elite from time to time. Send complaint and maybe you get some miles....its the best/only resolution. Again, I know how you feel!!!

HaleiwaFlyer

I can't remember the exact thread, but we get the advantage of a DL FA posting in certain threads, and the insight from DL perspective. In summary, on flight departure trumps your upgrade, unfortunately.

Frogbone

I get all that but there was ample time to sort this if the FA would have wanted to. He was just too lazy IMHO .

ATOBTTR

You see it as "lazy" because you felt like you lost out. But you didn't. 11A and 11C were the ones who were being inconvenienced (moved) to accommodate the passenger with the disability. What was the FA to do? "Excuse me, I have to put this passenger with a disability in your seats. Please stand around while I wait to figure out who should be next on the upgrade list so I can give their seats to you two and I will be moving them up to the now empty seat in First Class". And also, what should have happened to the person who was in 12A? The only way this works out as cleanly as you are implying is if 12A was #2 on the upgrade list. What if #2 on the UG list was in 25A? Should 11A have been moved back to 25A and 25A moved up to 1A or 1B next to you? Should 12A have been moved back to 25D?

Point being that once onboard, this was handled in a "what results in the most good" fashion and while you feel robbed because you watched it unfold in front of you and saw an F seat open up that then didn't go to you when you were #1 on the UG list, this was really a zero-sum for you. Frankly with middle seat blocking and reduced service, you probably had as much or more space and got basically the same level of service in C+ anyway.

HaleiwaFlyer

Understood. Hence a lot of "You board, you lose" upgrade mantra on this forum for lost upgrades.

Like another poster said, under the DL website, send in a complaint about the situation, and I would expect them to give you Skymiles as compensation for the theoretical lost upgrade.

On the flip side and a contrarian stand point, the ticketed FC passenger arrived, DL didn't have to upgrade anyone as all seats were taken, and you would have boarded without an upgrade anyways, even down to T-1. Rather the FA made a seat swap for the passengers involved, and I don't believe you have a valid complaint.

Frogbone

This wasn't meant as a complaint. I clearly stated that I was curious about the proper process. I also stated that it's not the end of the world. I would think that would have put it in the right context but that was lost on some of the responders.

DiverDave

From the DoT website:

"Carriers are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket or to provide a seat in a class of service other than the one the passenger has purchased."