I probably should have qualified "basic space" more. In fact, I'll edit the "really". They're not expecting a suite at the Venetian. Sounded like Gold Coast, or something in that vein. It's been Marriott's for me w/ AA in similar situations.

I think I was more surprised at the $7, as yeah, that may buy one a feast at the "graveyard breakfast buffets" but def. not dinner, and likely not much in lunch. They described the agents as being really resistant to the idea of placement on another carrier, and somewhat unwilling to check.

What's interesting is that they're NOT "booked" for sure on the flight tomorrow, just another "standby." I'd hate to think they'd go thru this again another day. They're not travel idots, and they're not travel snobs.

They know how to strike a good, professional balance between being appropriately persistant and not being beligerantly argumentative. And, while not addicted frequent fliers, they're not travel newbies either. They just can't seem to get any Delta agent to book/confirm them on anything (Delta or other carrier) out of LAS. Maybe it's just a huge convention throng in town or something, that EVERY seat on EVERY flight out of LAS is taken.

I'm sorry, I was being a bit too sarcastic and flip in my hotel comments.

Remember, CES is coming up in Las Vegas - that's a HUGE show. In any event, they should return to the airport and try to get Delta to CONFIRM them on SOMETHING. Do they have any status with Delta at all? Perhaps a call to SMS might help?

No worries...I thought they were hilarious, actually, and realized how I must have sounded like an arrogant dork in what I posted.

I was on the phone with a couple of Delta agents...and really got nowhere. I kept getting agents clearly working from home (telling wife where to put the groceries, asking son not to play w/ the cat, & various other backgrounds....).

I'm not necessarily in a hurry to get the boss back at the office :D :D. I've done what I can do, made the inquiries I can make...she's appreciated that. In my latest phone call w/ them, I ascertained that their bigger worry was knowing their teenage children back at their house have been guaranteed mom & dad won't be home for at least another 24 hours :D.

DL 1899 Today- 5+ Hour Mechanical Delay
 

My poor wife and daughter are on today's (Saturday, 3/23) DL 1899 (LAX-BOS)... looks like it finally pulled out of the gate slightly over 5 hours late due to a mechanical. Something with one of the engines. They were kept onboard for the first 2+ hours while mechanics installed a part borrowed from CO. But as luck would have it, the paperwork entanglements kept them from using this part. The crew said that phone calls were being made to GE (engine maker?) to allow the CO part, but at the end of the day, it was a no-go with that part. They were then taken off the plane and told that another DL flight would arrive in an hour and a half, and that they planned to canabalize the part of that aircraft. Indeed, that is what happened. It sounds like DL kept everyone informed. There were no other alternatives (I called SMS myself from back home) due to Spring Break traffic etc... but I had them protected on the same flight Sat AM if cancelled. All of tonight's red-eyes were booked solid. I assume that the flight crew must have timed out and a different crew from the original is taking this flight.

I am not a big compensation whiner. These things do happen. But what would a likely compensation be from DL for a 5 hour plus delay... home at 2AM (with luck) instead of 9PM? A SkyMiles bonus... extra MQMs would be nice!

I'd say it will probably trigger a $150 TCV per passenger, unless you let them know that you prefer Skymiles instead (however, MQMs are not a service recovery tool - only bonus miles).

The plane did arrive in BOS at 1230AM, about 5 hours late. I actually got more of the story. The defective part was an engine oil cap... they tried to borrow parts from both CO and AS, and actually left the gate and taxied out before being called back to the gate as there were issues, at least on paper, as to whether the borrowed part was legal or not. Many attempts made to get through to GE for an OK on the substituted part, but they could not get approval.

When the plane left LAX 5 hours after scheduled departure, the FAs were still the same BOS-based crew from the beginning. A long day for them.

We will see if s couple of travel vouchers can be had from this. I certainly did not relish having to drive home until 2AM... thankfully, a large Dunkin Donuts coffee kept me alert.

4.5 hour mechanical delay-compensation?
 

Yesterday we were on DL 931 from SLC to LAX. The takeoff was aborted because there was not enough engine power to achieve lift off. The plane pulled off to the side of the runway, a mechanic came on the plane and tried to fix it, but no joy.

The passengers were off-loaded and they got another plane that left 4.5 hours after the scheduled departure. The gate agent gave all the passengers a $7 meal voucher.

I called the rebooking line when the agents were still trying to figure out what to do. I asked about compensation and the lady said she could give me $100 over the phone, but that I would get more from the desk agent in Salt Lake. I hung up and went to the agent, but she said no compensation.

Is anyone able to shed some light on this?

Thanks!

$100.00 for a 4.5hr delay....Take it and run....It's my opinion that you will not get any more than that, other agents may even offer you less.

Kind of ironic that you get next to nothing for a long mechanical delay; but, you can receive $200 for DBC arriving at your final destination minutes later than scheduled.

I think a miles for mechanical delay option would be a fair compensation approach and a good way to tout the SkyMiles program to people who may be unaware. If we figure an hour of flight is about 500 miles, how about 500 miles and MQMs for every hour of mechanical delay? :) (Of course the elite and class of service bonus would apply to this figure :cool:)

grab the $100 each AND also ask nice-nice for a ONE-DAY CRC pass
to "refresh" yourselves; GA might grant it :)

Perhaps you would have preferred to fly on faulty equipment? :rolleyes:

I don't get this culture of compensation entitlement.

Actually, a 4 hours delay on a bump (VDB) is $400 not $200.
SR

I think the pilot should have tried harder to get the plane in the air.:)

Looks like you were on a Mechanical Daily-90. My uncle was on a SEA-SLC MD-90 fight a few weeks ago that had a 7 hour mechanical, and no compensation was offered apart from meal vouchers. Personally, I would have taken the $100 the phone agent offered.

Actually any compensation offered is really a gesture of goodwill, except of course in the case of DBC's and exit EU compensation.

I'm with vasantn on this one. Sometimes, stuff just happens.

True; but, if your car broke down and you showed up at the airport 4.5 hours late, I am not sure how accommodating Delta would be. I guess there is the "flat tire rule."

Guess the guys in coach weren't peddling fast enough ....

Me too! I guess we just are in the times of everyone expects freebies. I don't consider 4.5 hours for a mechanical delay compensible, but would expect for my connections to be taken care of and if I missed the last connection to where ever I was going I would expect a room.

Then you must not get the culture of change fees and rebooking at higher fares either.

You specifically agree to fare rules, including change fees, when you purchase a ticket. If you don't want to pay change fees, you are perfectly free to pay for an unrestricted ticket. OTOH, there is no rule that an airline must offer you compensation in case of a mech delay, other than alternative transportation and expense reimbursement.

I have to say that it is DLs responsibility to ensure that their aircraft scheduling includes enough routine maintanance checks. Now obviously, things can go wrong unexpectedly (and apparently they did as the aircraft was already heading down the runway at high speed).

Aircraft need to be in tip-top condition at all times, and sudden malfunctions at the gate or on the runway indicate that perhaps they are not.

I think mandatory compensation (along with not wanting an accident) should be motivation for keeping the aircraft in top mechanical condition.

You were talking about the culture of expectation, not formal provisions of a contract where only one of the contracting parties has the power to specify any of the terms.

I havnt had any luck with the one day CRC pass. But a guaranteed upgrade is always worth asking for.
I would have taken the 100.

18 hour delay
 

My partner and I only after writing HQ customer service were offered $150.00 each as comp. for a 18 hour delay coming from Managua. We even paid for our own hotel at ATL for $112.00. I am thinking of escalating it. Wonder if I it will get anywhere? I feel it is a little low for such a delay.

$100.00 for an SLC-LAX 4.5hr delay seems OK to me.

It took me 11 hours to get from BZN-SEA on Horizon yesterday. There was a rolling mechanical delay that required two mechanics from SEA. I got $6 snack voucher and a $25 discount on my next ticket. So the $100 offered over the phone was quite generous.

Was it $100 in Cash/Credit Card Credit, or a $100 voucher for future flight? $100 Cash would have been acceptable for me; not sure about a $100 voucher.

Nice try! So, in your opinion, the desire to avoid the airlines key assets exploding in clouds of fiery debris isn't sufficient motivation to encourage Delta to keep its planes in good condition?

BTW, you didn't reply to vasantn's question: 'Perhaps you would have preferred to fly on faulty equipment?'

Have you never heard of a rhetorical question?

Sorry, I didn't answer because it wasn't asked of me and the obvious answer is no. I don't see what this has to do with compensation for a mechanical delay. We are not arguing about whether or not we should fly with faulty equipment. If an airline is going to fly with a problem just because they don't want to pay compensation, then there is a much larger problem isn't there?

Take a look at KLM. They have overbooked their longhaul fleet this year and the mechanical delays have had a tremendous ripple effect on their scheduling. Because of EU regulations, they are paying pax compensation out the a** because they have not scheduled enough maintanance downtime for their fleet. You can bet they will think twice about such scheduling in the future.

Please forgive me. Next time I'll point out sarcasm more explicitly.

Nice try! But in the context it was posted there is no way that statement was intended as sarcasm.

Flyer_Tuck - ironically enough
 

"Please forgive me. Next time I'll point out sarcasm more explicitly."

Your comments may seem sarcastic to you, but some people genuinely believe that you are not being sarcastic. Turning down $100 for a 4.5 hour mechanical delay because you think you might get more is ironic, (which is a synonym of sarcastic) as well as just plain stupid.

the price of greed
 

The ripple effect of an airline missing flights due to any problems are enormous, and I don't mean to the customer. I am literally stunned that for a 4.5 hour mechanical delay the passenger was offered $100, and even more so that was turned down. The price of greed it turns out is $100...

Yeah you got suckered by a CSA that was not correct in offering $100 in the first place as she probably did not have all of the details. Sounds as there was a mechanical problem, which happens no matter how well one takes care of their aircraft, car, boat, body, etc.. When it could not be fixed ASAP you were promptly off loaded as to not cause undo stress on the passengers. Then you were put on the next available flight. I would say a meal voucher was fair.

As for those who want more and more compensation - get a life. What other industries have such "perks" when things go tits up.

You think?:)

I see your point but I don't agree with it, and the KLM case is a good example.

The EU regulation makes a clear distinction between delays and cancellation or overbooking. It states that in a delay situation the airline has a duty of care (i.e. refreshment, communication and accommodation depending on the length of the flight and the duration of the delay), but not a requirement to offer financial recompense. However in cases of cancellation or involuntary reroute there is a duty to offer financial compensation in addition to the duty of care. The reasoning behind this is that delays are usually unforeseen while cancellations and overbooking are usually a result of elective action by the airline.

Using your example of KLM: the problem is that “…they have not scheduled enough maintanance (sic) downtime for their fleet. You can bet they will think twice about such scheduling in the future.” KLM have chosen a maintenance schedule that causes the problems. This leads to long delays (inconvenient) and cancellations (that trigger hefty compensation payments).

In the OP’s case, if the 4.5hr delay happened on an EU flight, then the OP could have claimed for refreshments and communication at the time, but there is no requirement of compensation under EU law. DL’s offer of $100 as a goodwill gesture looks pretty generous.

I'm amazed at all the venom directed at the OP for being "greedy"! What he actually posted was: Note, he didn't turn down the $100 voucher as inadequate but was told that he was entitled to more than that. The OP has a very low post count and displays no indication of frequent flyer status on DL or any other airline. He probably had little idea of what the correct or expected procedures were in such a case.

Of course he now regrets not taking the $100 when it was offered, but there is no indication he refused it because he is greedy. He also wasn't posting a complaint. His only request in fact was: After being tarred as "greedy" and "stupid" so many times here, he probably regrets even asking for our clarification.

Please note that I never referred to the OP as greedy or stupid.

Mechanical delays are a fact of modern air travel in the US. The airlines are fighting to survive and cannot be expected to have spare aircraft at every airport.

I was simply making a broad statement that in this country these days, everyone expects compensation for every little inconvenience. It's depressing to see.

No, you did not. Others did that.I can understand that, but the OP is one individual looking for information, not a member of a huge class of people looking for some windfall compensation. In fact, he wasn't even complaining, but just asking for an explanation of what happened and what is supposed to happen in such an instance.

OK, I will agree with you there. :)