Delta flight delayed 3 1/2 hours Compensation Question
Jun 20, 2018, 11:28 am
#1
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Join Date: May 2015
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Delta flight delayed 3 1/2 hours Compensation Question
I sent two of my sons on Delta as unaccompanied minors for a program in Wisconsin via MSP to a small airport (RHI). The 7am flight had an engine issue which caused it to be delayed almost 4-hours. RHI only has two flights daily and the delay caused them to miss the first one and Delta said there were no seats on the 9:55pm flight (and wouldn't allow them to take the last flight as unaccompanied minors anyway). Fortunately, I caught these snafu's when asking the gate agent questions and we were forced to put them on the same flights the next day. I missed work two days, the kids missed a portion of their program and it was a pain. Should they have offered another solution such as arranging a driver to get them to their destination or having an agent ensure they're on the last flight instead of simply making us take the next day's flight? Is this a scenario that we should expect compensation from Delta?
BTW--I offered to get on the delayed flight and drive them to their destination (5-hours) but the gate agent said she would only offer $100 (cost would've been $800 out of my pocket plus time).
Thanks for your insight and/or advice.
BTW--I offered to get on the delayed flight and drive them to their destination (5-hours) but the gate agent said she would only offer $100 (cost would've been $800 out of my pocket plus time).
Thanks for your insight and/or advice.
Jun 20, 2018, 11:57 am
#2
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DL is one of the few remaining airlines that is willing to serve UMs, but there are strict rules that can limit options. I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted your kids to spend the night alone at the connection point if the 9:55 pm flight had cancelled. I further suspect that no other carrier (or at least none with UM service) serves this route or you could just have refunded the DL tickets (no fees due to the delay) and purchased it yourself if DL had been unwilling to rebooked your kids onto the other airline.
Like other airlines, DL's CoC doesn't offer to pay compensation for delayed flights and there's no USA DOT regulation that this be done.
Your joining the kids on the delayed flight and then driving them to the destination would have been a creative solution in order to arrive on the scheduled day, but I don't understand the $800 cost and can see why the GA would balk at making this offer--although it could have been worse if she had said OK but later DL corporate said no. To me, $100 is a very reasonable estimate for the cost of a rental car for a day.
Can we assume that driving the entire way or routing through a different connection such as DTW was not feasible?
ADDED: BTW, I'm not convinced that it's a five hour drive from MSP to Rhinelander or its airport as Wausau is only about three hours, especially since Wisconsin raised its speed limit on the interstate.You would follow I-494 east from the airport to I-94 east and then onto state highway 29 (still going straight east) before heading north at Wausau. It's almost all limited access freeway.
Moreover, if you were flying with the kids and then driving them to the destination, there might have been a connection from MSP to someplace else in Wisconsin that would be somewhat closer, perhaps Madison, Green Bay or Appleton, for example, but I don't know the airports of Wisconsin very well. Wausau should have a small airport too, IIRC on the wrong (south) side of town for your destination, but it might have limited service.
Like other airlines, DL's CoC doesn't offer to pay compensation for delayed flights and there's no USA DOT regulation that this be done.
Your joining the kids on the delayed flight and then driving them to the destination would have been a creative solution in order to arrive on the scheduled day, but I don't understand the $800 cost and can see why the GA would balk at making this offer--although it could have been worse if she had said OK but later DL corporate said no. To me, $100 is a very reasonable estimate for the cost of a rental car for a day.
Can we assume that driving the entire way or routing through a different connection such as DTW was not feasible?
ADDED: BTW, I'm not convinced that it's a five hour drive from MSP to Rhinelander or its airport as Wausau is only about three hours, especially since Wisconsin raised its speed limit on the interstate.You would follow I-494 east from the airport to I-94 east and then onto state highway 29 (still going straight east) before heading north at Wausau. It's almost all limited access freeway.
Moreover, if you were flying with the kids and then driving them to the destination, there might have been a connection from MSP to someplace else in Wisconsin that would be somewhat closer, perhaps Madison, Green Bay or Appleton, for example, but I don't know the airports of Wisconsin very well. Wausau should have a small airport too, IIRC on the wrong (south) side of town for your destination, but it might have limited service.
Last edited by MSPeconomist; Jun 20, 2018 at 12:10 pm
Jun 20, 2018, 12:14 pm
#3
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Join Date: May 2015
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Thanks for your reply! Phoenix AZ to Minneapolis, then Minneapolis to Rhinelander Wisconsin. I believe Rhinelander is only serviced by two flights and both are via MSP. The delay ultimately affected everyone, but I believe my kids were the only ones whose trip was pushed back a full day.
Jun 20, 2018, 2:44 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2006
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What are Delta's policies on a delayed flight due to a mechanical issue? Over the weekend, my ATL-BWI flight was delayed 3.5 hours due to a mechanical issue. It was the last flight of the night and it was one of those creeping delays. Finally after 3 hours (2.5 hours sitting on the plane), we did transfer to a plane that just landed. We finally made it to BWI about 4 am - 3.5 hours late. I definitely understand mechanical delays but since we were in ATL, are there not extra planes in the hangar that they can pull out in situations like this? I did kind of expect an apology e-mail from DL but have not seen one yet. I always get a "How Did We Do" survey after my flights but not on this one. Was I expecting too much for DL to at least acknowledge my inconvenience because of their broken aircraft?
Jun 20, 2018, 4:33 pm
#5
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There might be an "extra" plane just "sitting around," maybe. But even if there is, if it's not the same type as what you're booked on, DL will need to find a replacement crew, and possibly additional FAs, and then you have to wait for them to get to the airport, etc.
It could easily take more than 4 hours.
It could easily take more than 4 hours.
Jun 20, 2018, 5:23 pm
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I don't have anything substantial to add to this thread, other than we have friends in Wisconsin who live "in the middle of nowhere", being Rhinelander -- a place I'd never heard of before or since, until this thread. Whenever they vacation with us, they have to drive 3.5hrs to MSP first (and often, have to stop at MDW first!)
Jun 20, 2018, 5:32 pm
#7
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What are Delta's policies on a delayed flight due to a mechanical issue? Over the weekend, my ATL-BWI flight was delayed 3.5 hours due to a mechanical issue. It was the last flight of the night and it was one of those creeping delays. Finally after 3 hours (2.5 hours sitting on the plane), we did transfer to a plane that just landed. We finally made it to BWI about 4 am - 3.5 hours late. I definitely understand mechanical delays but since we were in ATL, are there not extra planes in the hangar that they can pull out in situations like this? I did kind of expect an apology e-mail from DL but have not seen one yet. I always get a "How Did We Do" survey after my flights but not on this one. Was I expecting too much for DL to at least acknowledge my inconvenience because of their broken aircraft?
Jun 20, 2018, 5:50 pm
#8
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Now that we're into the summer schedules, most airlines, DL among them, are using their fleets at close to maximum utilization (other than Saturdays, when schedules are lighter and the carriers can do some mx on aircraft that are down for the day). Therefore, even at hubs, there may not be extra aircraft available. It's much more common in those situations (at least with DL, but I've also seen UA and AA do it) to swap the mx-delayed aircraft with a normally operating inbound aircraft, as happened in your case.
To the OP, my only other thought would have been for you to fly with your sons to MSP (assuming another available seat) once you realized the connecting flight wouldn't work, then drive them the rest of the way.
To the OP, my only other thought would have been for you to fly with your sons to MSP (assuming another available seat) once you realized the connecting flight wouldn't work, then drive them the rest of the way.
Jun 20, 2018, 5:58 pm
#9
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First, compensation is the wrong term. There is no compensation for delays other than for flights departing a few locations, e.g. EU and Israel. There are, however, customer service gestures. OP might well send in a short note regarding the inconvenience and might see a few SkyMiles tossed his way.
As a more general notes, the UM rules are there for a reason. What exactly does OP think ought to happen should something happen on the last flight of the night? Would he want his kids in a hotel room supervised by a DL employee he has never met? All fine in an emergency, but this was not an emergency. As to driving the kids however far it is, who is going to do that and is it someone OP approves of?
Bottom line is that the entire UM business is going away. BA, by way of example, got rid of it entirely.
The times have changed, kids are more at risk, air carriers are more risk averse, and the equation has shifted this to a service I would no longer use for a routine matter.
As a more general notes, the UM rules are there for a reason. What exactly does OP think ought to happen should something happen on the last flight of the night? Would he want his kids in a hotel room supervised by a DL employee he has never met? All fine in an emergency, but this was not an emergency. As to driving the kids however far it is, who is going to do that and is it someone OP approves of?
Bottom line is that the entire UM business is going away. BA, by way of example, got rid of it entirely.
The times have changed, kids are more at risk, air carriers are more risk averse, and the equation has shifted this to a service I would no longer use for a routine matter.
Jun 20, 2018, 5:59 pm
#10
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Now that we're into the summer schedules, most airlines, DL among them, are using their fleets at close to maximum utilization (other than Saturdays, when schedules are lighter and the carriers can do some mx on aircraft that are down for the day). Therefore, even at hubs, there may not be extra aircraft available. It's much more common in those situations (at least with DL, but I've also seen UA and AA do it) to swap the mx-delayed aircraft with a normally operating inbound aircraft, as happened in your case.
To the OP, my only other thought would have been for you to fly with your sons to MSP (assuming another available seat) once you realized the connecting flight wouldn't work, then drive them the rest of the way.
To the OP, my only other thought would have been for you to fly with your sons to MSP (assuming another available seat) once you realized the connecting flight wouldn't work, then drive them the rest of the way.
OP apparently considered this, but decided not to do it when the GA would only promise $100 rather than $800 compensation.
Jun 20, 2018, 7:23 pm
#11
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Finally after 3 hours (2.5 hours sitting on the plane), we did transfer to a plane that just landed. We finally made it to BWI about 4 am - 3.5 hours late. I definitely understand mechanical delays but since we were in ATL, are there not extra planes in the hangar that they can pull out in situations like this? I did kind of expect an apology e-mail from DL but have not seen one yet. I always get a "How Did We Do" survey after my flights but not on this one. Was I expecting too much for DL to at least acknowledge my inconvenience because of their broken aircraft?
Jun 20, 2018, 8:27 pm
#12
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I've had the plane for the Tuesday 5:30am ATL-GPT flight get repurposed into my Monday 10:00pm ATL-VPS flight after an hour delay so it does happen when they can swap like Mad Dog for like Mad Dog. I suspect that it was one of those cases where they thought it was a 45 minute fix, and kept thinking the plane was just about ready to go, but then the issue still didn't check out correctly until they finally decided it was going to be an overnight fix and moved you.
Jun 20, 2018, 8:47 pm
#13
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Unfortunately creative (out of the box) problem solving is not a core competency of most frontline airline employees. Usually the advice on FT when something happens like a schedule change is to research your options and present to the airline what YOU think is the solution that works best for you. Obviously easier to do for advance issues, not in the moment, but the agents’ resources are fairly limited.
Jun 20, 2018, 9:30 pm
#14
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I sent two of my sons on Delta as unaccompanied minors for a program in Wisconsin via MSP to a small airport (RHI). The 7am flight had an engine issue which caused it to be delayed almost 4-hours. RHI only has two flights daily and the delay caused them to miss the first one and Delta said there were no seats on the 9:55pm flight (and wouldn't allow them to take the last flight as unaccompanied minors anyway). Fortunately, I caught these snafu's when asking the gate agent questions and we were forced to put them on the same flights the next day. I missed work two days, the kids missed a portion of their program and it was a pain. Should they have offered another solution such as arranging a driver to get them to their destination or having an agent ensure they're on the last flight instead of simply making us take the next day's flight? Is this a scenario that we should expect compensation from Delta?
BTW--I offered to get on the delayed flight and drive them to their destination (5-hours) but the gate agent said she would only offer $100 (cost would've been $800 out of my pocket plus time).
Thanks for your insight and/or advice.
BTW--I offered to get on the delayed flight and drive them to their destination (5-hours) but the gate agent said she would only offer $100 (cost would've been $800 out of my pocket plus time).
Thanks for your insight and/or advice.
Should DL have arranged a driver for your kids? Would you want them to be alone in a vehicle with a stranger for up to five hours, some of it in rural areas? DL doesn't have vetted drivers on call for UM situations. Moreover, most car service/taxi/Uber/Lyft/etc. services at least officially do not accept children who aren't accompanied by adults, although of course some drivers make unofficial exceptions. (Would you want your kids to be alone with a driver who does this against company policy?) BTW, you don't state the kids ages.
I strongly suspect that the GA does not have the authority to waive the DL UM rule that forbids taking the last connection of the day, nor would he/she want to do this as it would be a big responsibility in terms of liability and potential costs to DL if things go wrong.
I strongly suspect that the GA does not have the authority to waive the DL UM rule that forbids taking the last connection of the day, nor would he/she want to do this as it would be a big responsibility in terms of liability and potential costs to DL if things go wrong.
