925

Delta has NO WAY of measuring the amount of business jumps ship due to their Journey Control. I personally have bailed on over a dozen bookings in the last two months.

Lot's of airlines have married segments. But Journey Control is implemented so heavy handedly, and give not at all, that I just walk and walk and walk.

Delta's apparent motto: Let's find out what our customers want, and then find ways to price it so they won't buy it!

sxf24

Revenues and load factors are up.

If DL's losing business due to Journey Control, they've found a way to replace it...

RamAir

Yes, DL is loosing LOW YIELDING business. They are widening profits on all other passengers. Basically they are getting the most money for their seats.
SR

Robert Leach

I think the root of Delta's approach is grounded in its realization during the reorganization that it is much less expensive (from a cost standpoint) and much more efficient to carry a passenger from Point A to Point B without a connection. (Something Southwest realized 30 years ago, mind you).

Therefore, the entire system is being structured to look for point-to-point, single flight passengers whenever possible -- even if it means turning away business by connecting passengers, even if it means trimming capacity, etc.

Eliminating segment qualification was consistent with this design -- as it really delivered a hit to those who always connected and had four segment roundtrip itineraries, yet there is no sign that the carrier is remorseful about doing it.

So, if you're in non-hub city, I think Delta is perfectly willing to cut capacity into your city until such time as it can fill up a few planes a day with people paying relatively high yielding fares. It can fill up any low-yielding seats it desires to sell, or needs to sell, using people in the hub market.

For example: Rather than sell a $99 fare TYS-ATL-FLL, it would be much more cost-effective for the airline to sell the $99 fare ATL-FLL and save the TYS-ATL seat for someone buying a $900 fare TYS-ATL-LGW. (And if there aren't enough of those people over the long haul, TYS-ATL capacity will be cut, either by cutting flights or downsizing to RJs).

Now, if it's 6 hours before a flight and both legs of a connection show F6, I don't know why Delta wouldn't tweak the system to go ahead and sell a full fare F connection rather than give the seats away to upgraders. I think there are probably a few bugs of this sort left, but the guiding principles seem relatively clear.

RobertS975

Maybe, but what about this example... BOS-ATL-EZE RT wanted full Biz Elite fare over $6500, but if you plugged in the same dates for ATL-EZE, you got a nice roundtrip I fare of $2200 or so. So by what rationale is the BOS-ATL portion of the journey worth over $4000?

SlowTrekker

I'd go out on a limb and say this is one of those "few bugs of this sort left" that the previous poster mentioned.

3Cforme

I was traveling SLC-DTW on a F award, ticketed SLC-ATL-DTW. Five hours before the flight the non-stop SLC-DTW was F6. No chance to re-ticket and pay the fee - 0 award inventory. Same-day standby wasn't allowed because the desired flight wasn't within 3 hours of my first ticketed segment. They insisted I fly SLC-ATL-DTW. I would have been happy to save the time; they should have been happy to save flying my bulk that extra ~500 miles. A few bugs left, indeed.

GUWonder

DL could also be losing some business, not actively finding a way to replace that lost business and yet still have the revenue and load factors higher -- that is, due to reasons largely independent of any active DL changes, the money gained exceeds the money foregone due to JourneyPlanner. In any event, if DL thought that JourneyPlanner wasn't a winner for them financially, they'd scrap it.

[That said, thinking something a winner and something actually being a winner aren't necessarily the same thing -- especially in the aviation industry, especially given DL's past. Probably this is a bit different, but with the next aviation industry downturn things will be more telling.]

RobertS975

Just guessing here, but I do not think that the folks in charge at DL think their turnaround is because of "journey control". And from everything that I have heard (from rank and file employees), efforts to "fix" some of the problems are underway.

rcs85551

Journey Control is not designed to get DL additional business. Au contraire, it is designed to ensure connecting traffic on the lower fares does not eat into Delta's revenue.

Point-to-point flights with no connection, on which DL can charge a premium in several markets, are being given the preference.

925

I agree with your statements as to the design and intent of Delta's madness. But in trying to "protect" the point-to-point routes, they are flying F seats that instead go empty (or are given free to upgraders!) in an attempt to enforce a policy that is, at best, poorly implemented.

Case in point:
I have twice been totally unable to buy same-day last minute flights in paid F (all on one ticket-which was required due to a tight connection and needing protection) when there were MANY seats open on all legs. Journey Control wouldn't sell the connecting flights through Atlanta. Sheer stupidity. Won't sell paid F at any cost, and the seats fly empty. My folks have walked to the AA counter where they paid through the nose and were ushered on-board.

MAYBE Delta should ban this type of F sale three weeks out. But surely, when the hours are waning before flight time, they shouldn't be so adamant to enforce their revenue-killing strategy.

JRF

I think the answer is simple, stop claiming to have simple fares. Then implement a real simple fare solution like WN has. Problem solved.

micmath

Journey Control isn't in effect within 24 hours of departure so that's kiind of odd.

925

Well, I tried booking thru American Express, Delta.com, and in person at the ticket counter on the day of flight (less than 12 hours before the flights). Each agent could see the seats, but when they tried to book point-to-point, they were each entirely frustrated. That is when I walked down to the American ticket counter and things worked great there... but Delta had our preferred flight arrival times (two hours earlier for a business meeting).

I guess I don't know it was Journey Control. But it sure was something. I could buy two round trips just fine (at almost double the cost), but I needed them on the same ticket since I needed protection on a connection on the return.

micmath

That's a shame. Was this recently? In the beginning Journey Control was still in effect within the 24 hour window but there were so many complaints from the agents (or it was an oversight) that they released it 24 hours out. Agents could see the seats but could not protect inconvenienced passengers. It wasn't that way for very long.