PotomacApproach

I flew JSX a few weeks ago, which is supposed to be a premium product, and in addition to the no IFE/no Wi-Fi, they had gotten rid of all the snacks and soft drinks in the waiting area.

Also flew UA OGG-SFO in Polaris a few months back. One pass through all flight just to serve crusty, nasty chicken and dry rice. I was in row 1 on the 772 and could see the FA talking and doing nothing most of the flight. Because of where I was I could see she wasn't busy, so I just got up and asked her for a drink at two points during the trip. To make matters worse, the SFO United Club on the outbound flight had almost nothing to eat. I had a hard boiled egg and a water, and left to go back into the terminal to get a real meal.

All airlines have made major cuts to F service during COVID. The DL snack boxes are a joke, but the SkyClubs still have more than enough to fill you up before a flight.

ttuna3

The COVIDbuki isn't just the USG, I've been having a lot of "fun" with the GOJ and HMG about related issues as well. Until the bunglecrats get real and quit try to make the world COVID-zero things are going to stay a mess. Worst case scenario is happening in Australia where they've put a couple of MPs into COVID jail.

As shareholder I'm more than a little tired of EB's virtue signaling and still wonder they haven't done anything about the ongoing IT CF along with everything else. If Ed can't get Mr. Samant to get his house in order or replaced and actually spending some time running his airline then he should be gone as well.

As far as the assorted onboard and airport service issues, I think that making ALL of the inhabitants of Mahogany Row head out in the Real World at least once a week. Going in Coach, wearing something hi-vis and having their presence on board announced on the PA so that customers can have a "Pleasant Chat" about things. Also doing some time at Check in and Baggage Claim as well. I wouldn't want them in the Club since I enjoy the relative peace and quit and I'm sure that there will be plenty of people who would like to have a discussion about things with all of them.

mikebor

They all suck now. I'll type it again, they all suck now. These airlines with their highly paid lobbyists got bailed out with billions and billions and the customer service from all of them gets worse every week. Still flying on crappy planes, food sucks, flight attendants are hit and miss and the perks for elite flyers are not nearly as good. Hey I'm a Diamond great!! Please hold for an hour to speak to a representative. They all "secretly" consort with each other and come up with new ways to extract fees from us the customer. Things that were free a few years ago are not now. And the govt does nothing because the lobbyists have so much influence and its just a joke.

All these airline mergers that happened over the past 15 years made it so much worse for the consumer. All the executives trying to pitch how great it will be for us, give me a friggin break. Less choice means less competition which means higher prices.

Anyways just had to rant because seeing the state of air travel into 2022 is so depressing. And they have used covid and will keep using covid to ruin any last saving ounce of enjoyment we might have had. What a shame.

scubadu

And I do not. To say that I have little interest in CNN "breaking news" while on a flight (or any other time for that matter) would be an understatement of epic proportions.

But as you said, different strokes for different folks...

On that note, we are in violent agreement...

Regards

findark

I did take a trip on UA this year and it was a breath of fresh air that at least they had meal service. For equal price and schedule I would pick UA over DL without a second thought right now.

However, no, in MSP I really don't have options. I will say that at least DL's operational reliability has stayed quite strong.

dcstudent

TLDR: I haven't noticed changes that really bother me. My preference is good lounge + non-stop flight and being ATL based that lends to DL no matter what the onboard service is like.

I've gotta say, I think Delta's reputation hasn't changed for me - but it's all in what you care about. The Skyclubs are still far better than the offerings at AA and UA - and I'd much rather eat real food in the lounge than food on a domestic flight. The live TV is awesome. Comfort+ (which I normally book) service is plenty good. Wifi at $5 a flight (and usable speeds at that) is a great perk.

Not to mention, for me being based in ATL, I don't have many other options as I refuse (categorically) to have a connecting flight if a non-stop is available and that is usually Delta. (ALso, I refuse to fly Spirit and Frontier which further limits my choices.) And even with routes with competition, DL is often the only real choice. Take ATL-DCA for example. WN only has 2-3 flights a day and the times aren't fantastic. AA has 4 - most on regional jets. DL is nearly hourly, and on mainline.

dtwlarry

As MSPeconomist dcstudent and DenverBrian are highlighting, when one lives at a Delta hub, not just the flight options become reduced. Being at DTW, there are no lounges aside from Sky Clubs and Lufthansa, the number of departure options daily are less frequent on the other choices, their IRROPs are inferior as well. Add in the dining at the Sky Club before or between flights, IFE that many seem to prefer, reasonable WiFi support and options, and as dcstudent mentioned above, larger or mainline aircraft flight availability, and Delta remains a top choice. If these things aren't important to you, so be it. But that doesn't mean our preferences are wrong or should be discounted.
Finally, from my perspective (I've enjoyed a few discussions on the following), the idea of unbundling/decoupling these "features" included in the cost of flying First: food, free drinks, big seat, larger/better IFE, greater data capacity for WiFi, early boarding, reserved overhead luggage compartment, etc. So what do you value the food in First at? I put it at $20 for a transcon, non-D1 style seat. I place a higher value on all the other stuff I listed. The food won't make or break my airline or flight decision. And that $20-25, as a component of the overall cost of airfare, is only a few percent.
All IMHO, of course. YMMV, as it always does!
HNY EVERYONE!!!

j1194

I hold top tier on all 3 alliances. Delta is by far the worst to call. American picks up the EP desk in seconds, United in a few minutes, Delta in hours. That being said AA meals are a joke still, United better and Delta service is great. However, in the midst of a problem I can’t get ahold of Delta on the DM line, that’s not acceptable. Delta just screwed all the DMs by gutting our global upgrades, I am done with Delta. They should have doubled upgrades certs versus gutting them. Oh well.

ttuna3

I'll expand on dtwlarry's comments a bit:

It doesn't matter which airline/alliance you're a hub captive at, generally there is little choice in clubs, connections or anything else. Also there's the issue of the for lack of a better term non hub captives. RNO has very few choices that don't involve going through a captive hub (only exception here is heading through LAX) which makes us almost a hub captive as a practical matter. A few of my friends up north have similar experiences (FCA, MSO,PSC, GEG).. I'm not counting the EAS folks in this since if there's only one airline, you're still a captive.

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troyintn

I would think Leisure travelers would want, decent to good service if they are buying F. Since Delta has been trying to push FCM for a while now, they have to show it is worth the extra money. I had to fly WN home yesterday since they had delayed and rescheduled me with a 36 + hour delay. I can say the coach experience was different some for the better some for the worse.

Better-
Boarding was not as chaotic as Delta, they have a simple system that works. Almost no preboarding and agents enforced the boarding order.
Coach seats had slightly more space than DL coach but less then EC+
Overhead space, lots of overhead space since people are checking bags for free. Not one mention about saving space etc, versus DL does it 5 times per flight. May be different on a typical work day, since this was a holiday full of families.
The staff was friendly and helpful since I bought 5 tickets at the counter. Delta is always friendly but may or may not be able to help

Cons
Unassigned seats, was not as bad I thought since both times I found an aisle even though I boarded towards the back.
No power adaptors for any seats
IFE is bring your own device and connect to Southwest internet
Did not try internet speeds
No First but knew that when I booked it and was just trying to get home.
Limited drinks IE coke and water only along with pretzels, you point to the guide for what you want
Could see preboarding being horrible with tight connections. IE I am A5 but they are now boarding C30.

troyintn

That is my Number one issue, IROPs happen no one likes it, but DL is turning small things into huge issues. Yesterday I heard the guy next to me getting very stern and loud since they kept saying they could reschedule him to X tomorrow and he kept saying, that won't work since I am leaving X by that time and leaving for Y. Send me to Y directly the agent could not grasp what was going and kept saying I can get you to X at this time and that the earliest I can do.

HeadInTheClouds

I actually think they should have paired the new cabin restrictions with the functionality to use and track their upgrade certificates online. I think people would have happily accepted the changes if they knew it was going to save them hours upon hours on the phone with Delta for the next year to use them.

(tongue only slightly in cheek)

Dutch101

No kidding! Just booked a flight and called right away to apply RUCs since upgrades showed available, was quoted a call back in 2 1/2 hours, up to 6 hours right now and still no call... Just hoping availability is still there when they finally call, last time I got ahold of an agent the day after a booking the upgrades were no longer there. Seems like a relatively easy IT change to make especially now that the system shows availability.

Minnyappleus

I became a Delta loyalist several years prior to Covid for its premium product and services. As we all know, this standard has significantly diminished in the wake of the pandemic and leaves me asking “WHY?” Why do I still care about a company with over promised marketing and under-delivered services. Prices are consistently higher than competition with no added benefit. Unless Delta reinvigorates their offerings, I just don’t see the reason to keep funneling them money when other airlines have the same or better offering at a fraction of the price.

LoganFlyer

DL will restore their premium image at the speed that cash allows them to.