Hard to Judge
 

Ever since DL left bankruptcy my main city was switched to ASA. I can sure as heck tell you they have not improved. 1 on time flight out of the last 15. Two hour flight where because of the "shortness of today's flight" they can only serve black coffee and water....the crew doesn't hesitate to tell you if you can do anything to make their flight more enjoyable.

The two transcon roundtrips I've flown on Delta were not very different from before frankly. No meal choice, no IFE. I read the ads about all these great new things, but heck I'd take the old Delta - sundaes, three meal choices, courses. You know, those things other airlines still manage to provide on their flights.

Wrong.

Fare class was only introduced as a ranking factor (both for automatic upgrade processing and the Standby Upgrade list) earlier this year for HQKLUT fares.

Previously for HQKLUT fares, it was only Medallion status followed by the time/date stamp of the original upgrade request.......which meant that PMs on a T class fare who booked earlier than a PM on a Q would be ranked higher......as I personally found out last year. :)

Given the new rankings, that can no longer happen as a PM booked in Q class will now ALWAYS be ahead of a PM booked in T.

FWIW, given that upgrades are now automatically requested when ticketed......the time/date stamp now used is apparently 'time of ticketing'.......but this only comes into play as a final tiebreaker when there are 2 Medallions that have the same level of status and booked in the same fare class.

This all happened around the same time that B and M fares were no longer eligible for time of ticketing upgrades.

Speaking of B and M class fares, they are now included with those lower fare classes.

IOWs....GMs and/or FOs booked in either B or M class fares no longer trump any PMs at all......not even a PM booked in a cheap T class fare. :cool:

A.J.

Like many others who have posted, I agree that most of the changes thus far are either symbolic (logos, etc.) or promised primarily for the future. However, there is, in my view, a strong intangible difference with the new DL. Many of the posts on this thread have alluded to it. The enthusiasm of the employees (the FA's in particular) is clear, and the excitement about the new DL among them is almost palpable. Don't get me wrong, there is quite alot that still needs fixing, but for the first time in several years, greater things seem possible. I think we need to re-visit this thread a year from now, and see whether that sense of possibility has made progress toward becoming reality on a number of fronts.

Yes, thanks for asking.

I realize that for many people, Delta and its commuter partners are linked at the hip as one. But for the sake of the discussion regarding the question "Is Delta better or not?" I think one should only consider Delta itself. Not its commuter carriers or codeshare partners. That's another whole issue, one which no one is pretending to have an answer for.

Wrong. Totally wrong.

Delta sells a product, a ticket from A to B, and outsources portions of the service to various subcontractors who are providing service under the Delta brand.

Delta will be held 100% accountable for what its regional carriers do or don't do. There will be no escape. :D

I am basically satisfied. My main complaint is lack of meal service in F on mid-length domestic flights. I haven't had same problems with Skysaver availability that others have experienced, perhaps, as I just booked a trip to AMS.

"Fly Delta Jets"
 

In it's day (long long ago) Delta was truly a first class
legacy carrier that was a pleasure to fly

Nowadays I only fly them when forced to by itinerary
or by the rules of the company that is paying my way
IE Disney Worldwide (not my sole employer)

Their flights and clubs only make me appreciate CO
more and more (as in a very recent JFK-AMS r/t)

Chic

Delta should be held accountable for its actions especially since it has control of ALL ground operations in ATL since June 1. To make a point, ASA's on-time factor (pre-Delta; ASA operated) for May was 82%.....after June 1 (when Delta took over) our on-time performance has dropped for the moth of June to 69%. Personally, I can attest to making more baggage claims after June 1 then before Delta took over. Case closed.

Very Happy:)

As others have pointed out, this is definitely not correct.
Thank you.
I disagree. The Song product with FC is a real step in the right direction now. I just want live TV on more flights.
I completely disagree. Delta and Delta Connection are marketed as one entity. Delta is painted in really big letters on those planes. SkyWest, Comair, ASA (and others) is painted in really small letters.

Amen.

However EPs trump everyone, all the more reason to continue flying DL after PM status is reached.

Nope. Lack of SkySaver awards is a deal breaker for me. I am giving up on delta for everything but the shuttle, and I will sample US Air/United for LGA/BOS to see if I can tolerate it.

I've noticed one big improvement in recent months: Delta now sends me emails when they change their flight schedules (which they still seem to do more than any other carrier). That's valuable to me, and at least suggests there is intelligent life at work at the airline. Previously, they would do things like completely cancel their Kona service (including my flights) and I'd have to find out about it on flyertalk. I'd also have to babysit my reservations about twice a month to make sure I still had a reservation. That sucked, so the emails are a welcome change.

In general, though, airline service is evolutionary, not revolutionary. It takes a long time to get both better or worse. Coming out of Chap. 11 isn't going to produce miracles. For lasting improvements at Delta, you're probably going to have to get a strong leader at the helm with a good business plan telling people what they need to do. Someone like Bethune. Without someone like him, you'll get another United. And if you fly United, you know what I mean (good points and bad points).

Nice to see you back in the Delta forum under different circumstances, iahphx. I agree with you 100% on your Bethune comment and have my fingers crossed. I've long said that if Delta wants him bad enough, his agreement with CO could be negotiated away.

Are you still a Doug Parker groupie, or was that just a phase? ;)