orlandodlplat

As an Orlando-based PM, I've flown Song more times in three years than most people fly in a lifetime.

I never much cared for the hype and the bright colors. The lack of pre-boarding drove me nuts. The pre-recorded safety briefing was obnoxiously annoying.

But the flight crews were 99% friendly, and actually seemed to be enjoying their jobs. I even got to know many of the MCO-based crews, and came to appreciate the product for what it was. (Not really geared towards frequent flyers, but a generally decent product.)

It's all over.

Yesterday I flew what was billed as "the last song flight" from BOS to MCO, but boarded to find... it wasn't. There I was, amid the familiar psychedelic colors... and a frumpy, grumpy, sullen MAINLINE crew. It seemed like they had never been aboard one of these planes... and seemed generally put out by the design and the IFE.

What a change from crews who took pride in the product... to crews who can barely stand to look at it.

I feel bad that it took the end of Song to realize that I'll actually miss it. I'll miss the silly announcements and the FAs who danced along with them. I'll miss the $5 fruit and cheese box, and that nasty $3 asian nut mix. Now, it's back to free biscoffs.

I guess life goes on.

OrlandoFlyer

I agree totally with the comments my Orlandoplat above. I also got to know some of the crews out of MCO and they were great. I wish them luck now they are integrated with the mainline crews, and hope that they can inject some of the enthusiasm into them.

CelticFlyer

Welcome to FlyerTalk and the Delta forum orlandodlplat .

Hopefully some of the good stuff on Song will carry over to mainline. An F seat and the Song IFE has its attractioins for a trans-con!

RSSrsvp

What about the Song menu that won't be continued?

ClipperDelta

Actually, I've heard that they are looking at the whole BOB program again at mainline. When BOB was introduced at Mainline, it was a failure as DL ended up losing too much money (couldn't predict demand too well - some flights ended up selling out early and ticking off those who couldn't buy - while others had lots of perishables left over that had to be dumped). Song "taught" Mother Delta more about how to better run a BOB program (though I'm not sure Song actually made any money off of BOB, but they certainly lost less)...so the latest word is that they are evaluating to see if it's possible to roll it out at Mainline based on the experience and historical data from Song....

vasantn

On all the Song flights that I took (20+ last year), very, very few people bought food. Most brought their own or went without.

tkey75

I also flew Song pretty much exclusively out of MCO for the past few years. I will miss it. I was sure to collect a bunch of plasticware kits from my last flight, which the FA's were happy to provide. I will use them on my next mainline Delta flight and see if I get any comments. I took a menu, also.

Anyone else do any momento collecting?

As for the food, being generally scared of airline food I was bringing my own at first, but then as I got lazier I began to buy a thing or two, then relied on it for in-flight sustinance. It really was surprisingly good, except for the annoying video you had to watch every time you pressed the 'menu' button on the screen. The food was still good even after that. It is something I hope Delta will carry over to mainline. That and the generally positive attitudes of the whole flight crew. I never spoke to a single one who was not sad Song was going away.

RSSrsvp

That's funny because on the Song flights that I have taken, the food always sold well. In fact on the JFK-LAX transcons they usually made 2 passes of the entire plane and were sold out on many items. On the LGA-FLL/PBI flights the FA's were also extremely busy selling food. I will also miss some of the special drinks that they made in a shaker.

MuAT

www.flysong.com also now merely tells the visitor to go to delta.com
just curious, what happened all of the hatred of Song on this forum now that it's gone?

Xcheckme

No hatred here, just jumping for joy that Song is no more - and hoping for mainline TPA-LAX nonstop service.........

WBurcham

Well it's mainline now ;-) just not the mainline that we all hoped for.

Then again my experiences with song in Y (before I was FO and was elligible to upgrade) were good. I'm actually looking forward to it on my redeye from LAX to MCO in July.

indufan

When I spoke with Mr. Pinto of Delta last week, he said that it would be interesting to see what portions of the food program from Song carriers over to mainline. He didn't know the answer.

Buster CT1K

Do ex-Song aircraft continue to show DishTV, and use a Song safety video?

Spiff

Same here. Hopefully, Delta will put the F cabin back into these planes and keep the good aspects of Song.

jetBlueNYFL

I've taken several Song flights and know a few people who flew them quite often - sometimes they even flew Song over jetBlue on competing routes...not for the sky miles, IFE, food or service - but for the full row they got for themselves.

Song had very low load factors and high operating costs for a "Low Fare Airline". Especially one within an airline like Delta...low fare airlines have not worked in the past and Delta proved it once with Delta Express and once again with Song. They gave it a shot - and I wish them well in the future. But management (and Delta's most loyal customers) simply won't admit failure. Song was NOT created as an experiment to see what customers want - it is common sense what customers want: low fares, good product, good service, etc. Song was created to compete with jetBlue who offered a better product than Delta and still could not make money. Honestly, although financial results for Song were undisclosed, would DL be stopping it if it were a $$$ maker?!?!?!?!?

Song was a very cheap imitation of jetBlue. While I never had a BAD experience with Song, and their flight crews were actually friendly, their business model made no sense. We'll see what the future holds.