I know this is posted before, but I have seen conflicting information.
With all the Weather and Mechanical Delays lately, wonder if there is an FAQ any where that answers these questions:
What do you get, What should you do when there is a weather delay?
What do you get, What should you do when there is a mechanical delay?

Weather delay: normal policy is reaccomodation on next available NW flight, if next NW flight is not within a reasonable period, offline carriers are certainly considered. International and top-level Elite passengers (I don't remember if policy is for Platinum and Gold or ONLY Platinum) may receive meal vouchers and hotel if delayed more than 4 hours.

Mechanical Delay: over 2 hrs, a "Service Recovery Packet" is issued (consists of phone card, discount coupon and FF miles or meal coupon). If delay results in missed conncection, offline carrier is considered or overnight accomodations offered as well as additional meal vouchers depending on time of day and length of delay.

Keep in mind, airlines are not dictated by any law that requires them to compensate passengers for a delay, mechanical or otherwise. It is strictly a customer service issue. I have had many people tell me what I "have" to do for them because the FAA or government requires it (too many people watching the Oprah show! ). NW gives the agent the authority to solve the problem "on-the-spot" and I certainly attempt to do that in any case presented to me... it should be only a last resort that one should feel they have to write customer relations or talk to a supervisor IMHO.

I believe that Vegas Agent is correct in that the airlines are not currently mandated by the FAA to provide any compensation in the event of delays. However, after the stink raised a couple of years ago about passengers being held "hostage", I think most of the airlines implemented some sort of internal policy to handle these situations. This was done in order to avoid having Congress or the FAA dictate what the compensation should be. In Northwest's case, I believe this is the "Customer First" initiative. You can find a copy of the brochure at almost all of the NW gates or you can go to the website and view it online. In regards to delays, check this link for the policy NW has in place:

http://www.nwa.com/plan/comm2.html

NW has an obligation to adhere to the policy that they�ve outlined, but in the same token, I think passengers have an obligation to follow some guidelines of their own if they�re having problems on a particular flight:
[list=1][*] Yelling and screaming accomplishes nothing except to aggravate the gate agent and get your own blood pressure up. Keep a level head and approach things in a calm manner when inquiring about a delay or possible compensation. If you think you�re stressed out as a passenger, think of how the gate agent must feel when they have to deal with hundreds of agitated people who all think that they�re the center of the universe. The gate agents normally don�t have a say in delaying a flight so don�t take out your frustrations on them. Try giving a little, whether it be a smile or a �please�, when dealing with a delay. I�ve found that a little common courtesy can go a long way.[*] Depending on type of delay, take things in stride. As mentioned above, it�s not worth it to get your blood pressure up and give yourself a heart attack. If it�s a mechanical delay, I think I�d rather have it found/fixed on the ground than wait until the plane is 30,000 miles in the air. If the delay is caused by weather, well, the airlines don�t control the weather and I�d rather be safe than sorry. There are always going to be cases where the cause of the delay may be something trivial (a lightbulb in the bathroom, etc.) In these cases, if it truly upsets you, fill out a customer comment form and send it to the main office. If you send a comment in, make sure to follow-up on it after allowing sufficient time for a response.[*] Don�t take out your frustrations/anger with a delay on someone just because they�re wearing a NW uniform or id. You can express your frustrations to the employees in a civil manner but if you want it to go further, find out who to talk to that can get the result you expect. Many gate agents are empowered to handle some situations based on the circumstances and more often than not, the issue can be resolved right away. In the event that the agent can�t solve your problem, find out who can and then take it to them.[*] If the delay occurs after the plane has been boarded and the door closed, don�t �rag� on the FA�s. They have no control over the delay and are usually just as anxious as the passengers to get in the air. For the most part, this also goes for the pilots. If the delay is due to a pilot�s decision, usually there�s a good reason behind it so don�t jump to conclusions.[*] When all else fails, remember that you, as a passenger, do have other options to get your complaints heard. You can write to the airport manager, customer service or even the FAA or DOT if you think you�ve been treated unfairly. The most important thing that I�ve found is to keep things in perspective. There have been times where I�ve boarded a plane and written a letter to everyone that I could think of because of a perceived slight. After a cooling off period, I reread the letters and ended up not sending them. Why? Because after getting everything on paper, I realized that most of the things that upset me were trivial. That�s not to say that there aren�t valid concerns � there are. Just �don�t sweat the small stuff�[/list=a]

To finish (after my long-winded message ), here�s a recent example from my own personal experience. Last week I flew from DTW to SFO on what was �supposed� to be the 3:30pm flight. After boarding the plane and closing the doors, the pilots discovered that there was a mechanical problem with the mechanism that allows fuel to be loaded onto the plane. As we sat there, the first announcement was that the delay was going to be 20 minutes. After the first 20 minutes went by, we were informed that it would be another 20 minutes. This went on until a decision was made to change planes � almost 3 hours later. After the first two hours, I politely asked the FA if she had a copy of the �Customer First� guide. I was surprised when she asked me what that was (NW says that all employees should be aware of this policy) but then I explained what I was looking for. I even made a few jokes with her about how I should have booked the later flight since it seemed like it was going to leave before we did. Unfortunately, they didn�t have any copies on board so I let the matter drop. We finally made it to SFO (1 plane change and 3+ hours late) and as we started to exit the plane, the flight attendant I spoke with came up to me and handed me two amenity packets. I was a little surprised since I really hadn�t asked for anything. She mentioned that it was because I was so �polite� in dealing with the delay. As I exited, I noticed all of the passengers receiving the packets. While it may be that they planned on doing this, I like to think that I sort of prompted their response with my inquiries and that all of the passengers benefited. It just goes to show that the passengers attitude is just as important in dealing with delays as the attitude of the NW employees.

Disclaimer: Some of above statements may make it seem like I�m a NW employee. I can assure you I�m not but I do travel on NW every week so I get to see the good, the bad and the ugly. I�m a loyal NW passenger AND I have a vested interest in the company (I�m a shareholder too). I like to think I can see both sides of the issue � from the passengers viewpoint and the company's viewpoint.


[This message has been edited by CDF (edited 07-06-2002).]

There is no government mandate as Vegas Agent said, but there is the Contract of Carriage, which is just as powerful. The contract of carriage is binding. Customers First is not. Most people got rule 240 from the Oprah show but it does not apply to weather (or other force majeure events).

The domestic US contract of carriage can be found at:

http://www.nwa.com/contract2.pdf

You can find Rule 240 on page 89 (of 133) of the PDF document.

What interests me though after reading through this is section B of rule 240:

Schedule irregularity means:
It seems to be that these paragraphs are very broad and give the delayed passenger a lot of power. Rerouting is to something that's acceptable to the passenger. It does not mention any time limits where if a delay is under X hours/minutes this happens, over X hours/minutes this happens...

So, just from reading the contract of carriage, can't someone ask to be rerouted on another carrier of their choice if say there's a mechanical delay of 15 minutes?

[This message has been edited by keithguy (edited 07-06-2002).]

Good post CDF ... I agree with your comments 100%. But note: the "Customer's First" initiative does not state anything in regards to compensation for delays...for good reason.

I can usually pinpoint the Oprah viewers...they are always the first to bring up "Rule 240" when there is mention of any delay. Actually, "Rule 240" is a term seldom used in the industry anymore since new involuntary reroute agreements were put in place several years ago.

Isn't rule 240 now known as rule 120-20???

Vegas Agent � Maybe I�m reading the guidelines incorrectly, but on the link I posted above, it appears that the Service Recovery Packet is a form of compensation. This is basically the same as what keithguy posted:

Accommodating Passengers During Delays

If Northwest is responsible for a three to six hour delay or a canceled flight, or in instances of a six hour delay beyond Northwest's control, Northwest will provide each affected passenger with a Northwest Airlines Service Recovery Packet.

Domestic packets contain:

• A phone card entitling the customer to a five minute domestic phone call.
• An amenity coupon offering the choice of Northwest WorldPerks miles, a meal in the airport, or a beverage or headset on board the aircraft.
• A Travel Discount Certificate valid toward the purchase of future travel.

International packets contain:

• An international phone card entitling the customer to a phone call of approximately five minutes (time may vary depending on the country the customer is calling).
• An amenity coupon with a higher value of Northwest WorldPerks mileage and meal value.
• A Travel Discount Certificate valid toward the purchase of future travel.

If you were referring to a monetary form of compensation, then I agree with you. I don�t remember seeing anything stating that a passenger is entitled to any monies in the event of a delay. There are some policies where monetary compensation is mentioned but they don�t seem to pertain to this thread.