altabello

Flight SLC-JAC boarded on time and with no delays showing, so I notified my pick-up ride to leave for the airport (1 hour drive/1 hour flight). Then, it was announced that we would wait for 20-25 people who were on delayed flights and wanted to make their connection as it was the last flight of the day (my guess is, DELTA really wanted them to connect, so they wouldn't have to put them up in a hotel). Understandable, and no big deal, if they're plane(s) is/are actually in the process of landing and the delay works out to be 10-15 minutes. However, the wait kept getting longer and longer, and we actually left the gate 50 minutes late. It was too late to communicate the unexpected delay to my ride picking me up, and he was less than pleased to be kept waiting on me. I got to bed way too late, almost missed my commuter bus the next day, and was tired and useless for the day.

When I was in danger of missing the last plane to JAC before, I was told that they can't hold any flights.

Is there a rule as to how long they'll hold a plane for late incoming connections? There has to be a limit IMO. If it would have been much longer, my ride might have left, as it was not what he signed up for. Obviously, no one connected at the destination, but excessive delays still interrupt people's schedules. I was hoping for an apology email from DELTA, but only silence.

HWGeeks

1 < 25

with the way delta pads now a days surprised you arrived late.

Syzygies

Two million miles here, and I haven't see everything, but I only trust an "in flight" status. Even then, I've been on emergency landings and in one uncommanded roll manuever, but those are stories people understand.

indufan

No.
No.

50-minute delays are part of traveling. I doubt I would have blinked an eye.

kop84

I'm sorry you were delayed, but if less than an hour is enough to destroy you for the day...don't have children....my toddler was up until 2AM and I was still at work at 8AM.

Zorak

My understanding is that Ops decides each situation on a case-by-case basis depending on how many people will be affected, whether the plane/crew is needed for an immediate turn etc. So it seems more likely they'll hold it if it's the last flight to an outstation but still not guaranteed and just because it happens once is no indication of what will happen next time even under similar circumstances.

Did your pickup have your flight info to check updated status?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for something proactively from Delta, but if you submit the website contact/complaint form and explain the inconvenience briefly/succinctly they will likely make some sort of CS mileage gesture.

DCAFly

Wait...what?

miraclebear2003

I don't think you will find much sympathy here. As stated, the answer to both questions is NO. Nothing is definite and you have to go with what happens.

We used to have someone pick us up, but stopped about 30 years ago when we ran into an extended delay (of course, no cellphones in those days) and "made" someone wait. Now we either park at the airport or take Lyft (except for the rare time when it's our spouse and you always bring a book with you). We'll probably get stranded someday, but's that life.

ATLflyer2017

I am sure Delta would rather hold a flight than allow multiple passengers to require overnight accommodations in SLC. They also won't be advertising what makes them decide whether to hold a flight to wait for passengers. People would most certainly take advantage of it. I doubt Delta would give you anything and I hardly see how this caused you to be useless the next day.

kipper

How much time between you getting home and needing to be awake again? I am running on 3 hours of sleep, and while I was exhausted for the morning, once I got enough caffeine into my system, I have been fine. Actually even sociable and friendly.

SFO777

I'm guessing millennial and snowflake.

kop84

Not to go too far into OMNI territory, but unwarranted complaints, being overly tiered, being hurt because something good happened for someone else but not them...I think you need to look a bit older than Millennial if you're looking to pin that one down...

The Situation

Holding flights for slightly delayed pax on the last flight of the night is very common on DL and especially so in SLC. Nobody at DL will "promise you" that they will hold a flight, but it seems almost guaranteed with the frequency it happens. Often we will take a 15-30 minute departure delay and still arrive roughly on time. Frankly, I would much rather lose 15 minutes now than 12 hours if I miss a tight connection, am glad Delta seems to be making this a standard practice, and I think 99% of customers feel this way. Wouldn't you be a lot more upset if your flight was delayed and you arrived at the gate as the a/c was pushing back and got stranded 12 hours? From DL's perspective, it has zero to do with saving money on hotel rooms and a lot more to do with keeping customers happy. A little compassion for the delayed pax (just like DL showed) would be a lot better than going the complaint route. FWIW, the worst delay I took from delayed arriving pax was 2 hours waiting for a delayed flight from JFK for a couple of pax in the J cabin. My flight was an international flight operating once a day.

The Situation

Can't be...a millennial would have taken an uber rather than scheduling a ride. As a millennial myself, I wouldn't even know how to go about "scheduling a ride" unless that scheduled ride was a friend picking me up...and if that was the case, they would have my flight info and be smart enough to wait until I actually arrived.

altabello

I had noted that a delay was "understandable, and no big deal" - so I don't see how that makes me a millennial or snowflake (really, isn't that a good thing if you live in a ski town?). I can function on 5 hours of sleep, but not on 4 (probably could if I was a millennial and substantially younger). There aren't reliable LYFT or UBER services at this airport, and even if there were, an hour + long ride home would be impossible. Parking is under construction, severely limited, and I didn't want to drive over an hour in the middle of the night by myself (lots of wildlife on the road), after traveling all day. Cell phones don't work either between my home and JAC, so my ride had to just wait it out (smart enough, but not pleased, obviously). All those things are really secondary to my actual question of what is an appropriate time to wait for delayed flights? 20 minutes? An hour? Two? Four? All night? Wouldn't the appropriate time to notify pax about the delay be when they decided to wait for the plane(s) causing the delay, rather then after boarding everyone?