Guess DL service = water only DTW-ORD
 

Rather surprised last afternoon, on a NW-operated A320 (admittedly chock full) DTW-ORD the only service in Y was a FA walking through coach with a bottle of Rainbow Springs (!) water and a pile of plastic cups. I don't fly this route much, but never remember NW not bringing out the carts before.

LAN-CVG and TOL-CVG used to be water only. DTW-ORD is 40 minute flight?
Personally, water would be sufficient for the duration the flight.

They should follow Southwest Airlines protocol on short flights. I fly FLL to MCO sometimes - 174 Miles, (only about 33 minute flight), and have always been served my choice of beverage. The flight attendants go through the cabin with a pad and pencil before take off and take everyone’s orders. Then as soon as they hit a certain elevation, they diligently serve everyone their drinks. I agree that its a short flight and may not be necessary, but it makes you as the passenger feel appreciated that the FA's put in that kind of effort to serve you :)

The policy is actually how lazy the FA feels that day, and changes from flight to flight. It's pretty aggravating.

The flight attendants are lazy.

Southwest routinely does a full service on MDW-STL, which is only 16 miles farther (251 vs. 235) than ORD-DTW.

I would submit a complaint via Delta's Contact Us link.

No better yet, submit a complaint to DOT (see link in my signature) :D and send a copy to Delta's Contact Us link.

Ryan8925's post (milepost #3) is pretty much what I've seen on WN's MDW-STL flights. They take as many drink orders as they can while they're still on the ground, and they get the full service done in the air. Even on a flight when turbluence kept even the FA's in the seats for much of the flight, they ended up getting a full service accomplished (barely! in my opinion they should have scrubbed that one, but they still did it).

You would send in a DOT complaint because they offered water instead of the traditional beverage cart? Really?

Without even knowing if they were flat denying anything but water or if the OP just didn't ask?

I flew LAX-LAS (236 miles) on NW awhile ago and was given frozen blocks of orange juice.

xxxxx

What was the ride like? If the ride was bumpy, I'd say they were erring on the side of caution. Also, the service parameters changed recently... if I remember correctly flights under 250 miles service is "on demand." That means NO SERVICE unless you ask. However, even on the "on demand" flights, the FAs that want to, will conduct a water service. I think it's a little harsh to generalize that ALL FAs are lazy. Furthermore, it's even more ridiculous for someone who WASN'T EVEN THERE to call them lazy.

Yes, I'm fed up with coddling insolvent airlines than refuse to provide decent service.

Maybe they should fly WN? Pay less, get more?

But you honestly would recommend someone file a DOT complaint for only providing water instead of a full drink cart, even though you were not on the flight to verify if they were denying non-water requests or just weren't offering them initially?

That's pretty out there... And frankly, I'm sure the DOT couldn't care less if that was the bulk of your complaint.

With WN, you have to pay for anything more than standard drink service and a bag of nuts.

With NW, you have to pay for anything more than standard drink service and a bag of nuts.

With WN:
After several round trips on WN, there's no looking back to DL/NW for us. Even the peanuts are better on WN!

I know MikeMpls is pretty well respected around these parts, so it's from that perspective that I question his response. I agree that the airline industry's inability to function like a real business is incredible while their list of excuses runs a mile long. But... it's a 40 minute flight. 40 minutes. Most of us have been on longer subway rides. While drink service etc. would be nice, is it really necessary? Should that be the definition of service? A lousy sippy cup of soda with ice in it? To be honest, it doesn't even really register on my radar, at least for a 40 minute flight. It strikes me as wasteful more than anything else. It's the same reaction I have to people who get out the travel pillow for the 3 hour flight from Minneapolis to LAX. It's 3 hours... do you pull out a neck pillow when you're at the movies or in traffic? Ditto for the lady who wanted pillows and blankets for the 2.5 hour flight from MIA to PTY. None were to be had on such a short flight, and she was visibly put off. Yes it would be nice on such short flights to have full service, however that's defined. But is that what we really want? Need? Are we willing to pay for it? If so, then why not bring a bottle of your own on board? Maybe I'm way off base, or just of a different generation... but I couldn't care less about a silly cup of soda on a 40 minute flight. You're flying from Detroit to O'hare in a jet, not crossing the western plains in a covered wagon.


[Putting on flame retardant suit...]

They are not concerned about people trapped on planes for four+hours with no food so I am sure they do not care about a 40 min flight.