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Delta Employees
Question:
Various comments on DL/CO merger; [not sure who to quote here] And if the DL/CO merger did go thru, CO would have had DL on thier side in trying to straighten out the mess that is now called The Holdup in Continental Trying to serve Moscow. A friend of mine in Moscow and I were discussing the apparent holdup in the Newark-Moscow service and she tells me that the delays "most definitely" are coming from the Russian side of things since it is darn near impossible for a new carrier to get landing rights at SVO 2. So there must be something in all of this that the Russian government doesn’t like. All I wish they would do is stop fighting, start flying so the fares on this route can go down this fall (DL said fares in September are currently at $1300 RT-ouch.) Maryanne.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > : Leo Mullins, the new CEO, has admitted that service has declined, and says he > : is "taking steps" to restore some of the past service performance, whatever > : that means. I’m not too optimistic he can pull it off, as he screwed up the > : proposed acquisition of Continental, which would have made DL a real > : fortress, and would have been the airline deal of the decade. It probably > : would have helped DL on the service and on-time side as well, as CO has been > : one of the top performers in these areas for years, and could teach DL a few > : things. > I believe the acquisition of Continential would of been a bad deal on > Delta’s part and on behalf of the travelling public. Delta already has an > extensive route structure, and the only major gain I would see from > Continential is new Latin America routes which DL is adding on their own > from my understanding, and perhaps CO Micronesia (unsure if it was part of > the prososed acquisition). > Otherwise, their routes would overlap, it would add more different types > of equipment to the Delta fleet (specificlly DC-9s, DC-10s, and perhaps a > couple of old 747s (unsure if CO is still using them)). With routes > overlapping you have DFW and IAH close to each other and feeding many of > the same cities as a hub, and likewise CVG and CLE. EWR would be somewhat > overlapped with CVG and with Delta’s JFK operations. EWR would not > benefit Delta as they have too much tied up at JFK. For east coast N/S > (Florida flights) that would normally go thru EWR on CO, Delta Express is > doing a great job. > The only area where Delta is lacking in the domestic U.S. is in the west > coast corridor. Delta Express may be the solution there, but the > competition if rough between Reno Air, Shuttle by United, Southwest, and > somewhat Alaska and America West. While I would like to see Delta in that > market for my personal preference, I doubt that it would be profitable > unless they can find some niche markets in the west coast corridor or > enter with Delta Express and watch their costs. If they could acquire an > existing airline such as Reno and turn it into a Delta Express type > operation it would be the best option. > In regards to any benefits for the travelling public if DL did acquire CO, > it would mean a larger airline, but would also mean less competition, > stronger fortress hubs, and higher fares. I believe the CO/NW partership > will be the best for the travelling public as it is not a full acquistion > and the two airlines compliment each other more so than CO/DL would. > Anyway, that’s my .02 cents but I’m glad Delta did not acquire > Continential as it would of been a big mess, IMHO. > Regards, > Steve
I agree, from the consumer’s perspective, the DL/CO merger wouldn’t have a lot of benefit. But, from a CEO’s perspective (Mullins’), it would have been great – reduced competition, higher fares -what more could an airline CEO want? An analysis in the Dallas Morning News said the fleet differences wouldn’t have been an issue; CO is taking delivery of 64 new Boeings this year, and the DC-9’s will be the first to go. The DC-10’s are on the way out as the new 767-400’s and 777’s come on line, which are the same types DL is acquiring, replacing the L10’s. And they both have huge orders for variations of the 737. Within the next three years, DL and CO will have the two most common fleets in the U.S., regardless of any merger. On the hub side, there was speculation that CLE would have bowed to CVG, and IAH would be the dominant southwestern hub, replacing DFW, where DL has been scaling back for years, ceding market share to the mighty AA. DL just gave up four of it’s DFW gates to NW and AirTran, citing "excess capacity" at DFW, and AA assumed the former NW gates and is building five more. CO is building at IAH as fast as it can. JFK is almost entirely devoted to international traffic. DL has very few domestic destinations with more than a single daily departure from JFK, while CO is the dominant NYC area carrier domestically from EWR, so there wouldn’t have been a lot of overlap. It will cost DL more to try and replicate CO’s Latin American presence than the entire CO merger would have cost them. The merger would have given DL instant second largest market share. Oh, well. As I said, it was a CEO’s dream deal, (and shareholder’s), if not a consumers!
Response:
: I was on a CVG-SEA flight last week (7 March, 727-200). It wasn’t : packed. They ran out of water bottles. Perhaps water is more popular than : you thought? : Oddly, they did have water in first class, but the coach FA’s didn’t know : that (or they *claimed* they didn’t know it). I didn’t care. I had 2 water : bottles stashed with me from my previous flight (BOS-CVG) which was : SkyDeli and came with the water. Sounds like the HNL-LAX leg I did back in October. Flight was 25% full and after meal service the FA (on Delta) snapped at me when I got up and requested a Sprite. Her first response was "We’re done serving tourist class’, which did not go over well with me. I politely asked again, she found half a can of Sprite and gave it to me, adding insult to injury telling me there was no ice. About an hour later, she’s in her jumpseat in plain view eating, drinking a Sprite, and had ice in her cup. That irked me enough to write Delta, which I did. They responded with a personal phone call, a $100 travel credit that I applied to my next trip to HNL which I’m ironicly taking today (9 hours and counting), and I got a phone call about a month later from the inflight service manager at LAX. He needed help identifying the crew member which I assisted with and he had actually said to me that it was a very senior staff working the flight (they were old – not that I have anything against age) and he said he knew exactly who it was once I told him about the incident as she has a habit of being cranky is what I was told. I was kind of surprised I was told all this, but I did make a few positive comments about the flight when talking to him. He said he’d talk to the FA and bring it to her situation which I think is good — just hopefully I won’t have that FA on my flight later today 
: –Helen : (BOS-CVG-SEA-SLC-BOS trip report to follow later today or tomorrow And for me it’s a SDF-ATL-(SFO)-HNL-OGG-HNL-LAX-ATL-SDF then a quick SDF-CVG-MKE-CVG-SDF once I return to SDF from Hawaii .. The same day I return from Hawaii, I have to travel up to Great Lakes, Illinois. I’ll put a trip report up when I return & pictures will be on my web site! Regards, Steve Richardson Visit: http://members.iglou.com/stever http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/4887
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>>I prefer to fly DL as much as I can out of practicality, therfore, any
improvement in service and operations directly benefits me. And any degredation, which there has been over the past 2-3 years, impacts me as well. I wish you and your fellow DL ee’s the best of luck.<< Fair enough. I’m sure the employees appreciate your good wishes and continued business. You are most certainly correct in stating there is always room for improvement. Delta still has quite a ways to go before they return to their previous levels of service in all areas. They are putting their full attentions to that goal at this time. Feedback from customers is critical to achieving results. Constructive Criticism, and suggestions for improvement are the best ways to facilitate positive change. That applies to everyone and every business. I commend to anyone who has a legitimate complaint about a business to include an idea or suggestion along with their observations. That holds true on newsgruop posts. You never know who might be reading these posts.
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: Leo Mullins, the new CEO, has admitted that service has declined, and says he : is "taking steps" to restore some of the past service performance, whatever : that means. I’m not too optimistic he can pull it off, as he screwed up the : proposed acquisition of Continental, which would have made DL a real : fortress, and would have been the airline deal of the decade. It probably : would have helped DL on the service and on-time side as well, as CO has been : one of the top performers in these areas for years, and could teach DL a few : things. I believe the acquisition of Continential would of been a bad deal on Delta’s part and on behalf of the travelling public. Delta already has an extensive route structure, and the only major gain I would see from Continential is new Latin America routes which DL is adding on their own from my understanding, and perhaps CO Micronesia (unsure if it was part of the prososed acquisition). Otherwise, their routes would overlap, it would add more different types of equipment to the Delta fleet (specificlly DC-9s, DC-10s, and perhaps a couple of old 747s (unsure if CO is still using them)). With routes overlapping you have DFW and IAH close to each other and feeding many of the same cities as a hub, and likewise CVG and CLE. EWR would be somewhat overlapped with CVG and with Delta’s JFK operations. EWR would not benefit Delta as they have too much tied up at JFK. For east coast N/S (Florida flights) that would normally go thru EWR on CO, Delta Express is doing a great job. The only area where Delta is lacking in the domestic U.S. is in the west coast corridor. Delta Express may be the solution there, but the competition if rough between Reno Air, Shuttle by United, Southwest, and somewhat Alaska and America West. While I would like to see Delta in that market for my personal preference, I doubt that it would be profitable unless they can find some niche markets in the west coast corridor or enter with Delta Express and watch their costs. If they could acquire an existing airline such as Reno and turn it into a Delta Express type operation it would be the best option. In regards to any benefits for the travelling public if DL did acquire CO, it would mean a larger airline, but would also mean less competition, stronger fortress hubs, and higher fares. I believe the CO/NW partership will be the best for the travelling public as it is not a full acquistion and the two airlines compliment each other more so than CO/DL would. Anyway, that’s my .02 cents but I’m glad Delta did not acquire Continential as it would of been a big mess, IMHO. Regards, Steve
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> From your comments, I just had a hard time determining if you were genuinely > interested in seeing Delta improve. > Remember the Pygmalion effect….. > I am not snotty, and I provide professional, frendly service. > Most of all, I am not insecure. I love my company. > Just hurts a bit when the people I work hardest for trash it.
I’d love to see DL improve, as I prefer to fly them due to my FF status. It’s simply a practical matter to me – not personal. And, if you’ll review my posts re: DL, you’ll see that I am as complimentary as I am critical (or balanced, as you put it) of DL’s ee’s and operations. However, I did take offense at your stating that I check the "facts", which as you can see, by having reviewed the DOT page (which does include the past year’s stats on on-time performance and baggage handling), and the WSJ article relating the DL/CO merger scenario, I had already done. As you know, DL flew over 100 million passengers last year. But DL also flies to as many places as any other airline with almost as many planes. Noone has claimed that they all flew DL for the pleasure of flying DL. Biggest doesn’t mean best (remeber Aeroflot?). I am not a DL ee, and have no stock or any other financial interest in DL; my opinions are not clouded by emotion. I prefer to fly DL as much as I can out of practicality, therfore, any improvement in service and operations directly benefits me. And any degredation, which there has been over the past 2-3 years, impacts me as well. I wish you and your fellow DL ee’s the best of luck.
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> Funny, I thought davejrlr’s post was neither cynical nor slanderous. He was just > making a few well thought out comments and suggestions. Your response, OTOH, as a > DL employee, suggests to me a snotty attitude from someone not interesting in > listening to his customers and missing the forest for a tree. > — > Rolando
It is amazing how defensive and insecure (not to mention loose with the facts) some ee’s can be. Fortunately, they are the minority. Most of the DL ee’s I have contact with are very professional and provide outstanding service. Overall, I think DL is a very good airline. However, a few months’ improvement in on-time performance doesn’t statistically indicate a turnaround has occurred. In a year or so, maybe. We’ll see. With attitude’s like this guy’s, I’m not optimistic. You’re right about not listening to the customers. I guess until some people in a service industry who can’t handle opinions (and facts) other than their own either retire or move on, DL will always have room for service improvement. > —- > The above opinions/comments are strictly my own, not my employer’s. > Posting of this message does not imply permission to be placed upon unsolicited > email lists. > *Please note, to discourage SPAM my e-mail address has been ROT13 scrambled*
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Please allow me to clarify my remarks…. First of all, I want to apologize if my tone came across as harshly as you believe it to be. I wrote my remarks in a light-hearted tone, but apparently some people are always looking to pick a fight. Something like road-rage on the info super-highway. : – ) Looking back over what I wrote, I should have began a new paragraph after I said Leo Mullin did not screw up the CO deal. I do not contend Mr. Mullin rejected the deal. After that first sentence, my remarks are in line with what you think I should have said. It was lost over a labor issue, CO’s labor, which, by the way, I have a lot of respect for (CO emps) because they hung in there and supported their company in hard times. Their committment is evident in a well-run airline. As for the DOT numbers, hey… The glass is either half full, or half empty..take your pick. My point, which is not so easy to make a 2am, was… It’s so easy to look at the bad side of things… people are always looking for a bandwagon to jump on, and this was was the "look how bad Delta is" bandwagon. It seems one’s quest to prove one side of an argument often impairs their vision for balance. You say you won’t form an opinion over a few months improvement on on-time rankings. Your web-site source doesn’t have any stats on baggage, complaints, on-time, etc…for the last year…A year ? Yes, a year, the time frame you said you would give Delta to quantify any improvement. If you would please review stats over the last year, you would see quite an improvement in most areas. They still overbook quite a bit, but what’s so bad about that anyway ? : – ) From your comments, I just had a hard time determining if you were genuinely interested in seeing Delta improve. Remember the Pygmalion effect….. I am not snotty, and I provide professional, frendly service. Most of all, I am not insecure. I love my company. Just hurts a bit when the people I work hardest for trash it.
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> >Okay, let’s look at the facts, as you suggest. Go to www.dot.gov and review the official DOTairline reporting statistics.
Fact: In 1997, DL ranked 10th, or last, in DOT on-time performance. In ‘96, DL was 7/10, in ‘95 9/10. For 1987 through ‘97, DL averaged 9/10. Fact: In ‘97, DL ranked 5/10 in mishandled baggage complaints; in "96 they ranked 7/10. Fact: In ‘97 DL ranked 5/10 in consumer complaints; in ‘96 they ranked 4/10. Fact: In ‘96, DL ranked 6/10 in involuntary bordings.(No rankings for ‘97). So, overall, based on the FACTS, DL has scored in the bottom half in official DOT reportings, as I stated. Check it out. And it was Continental who killed the merger with DL to protect jobs. Mullin was "shocked’ that a labor issue (laying off thousands of ee’s) was the reason. He was so out of touch with the labor issue, he was completely caught off guard, and blew the biggest merger in airline history.
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->According to an in-depth report in the >Wall Street Journal, it was *Continental* that decided to go with Northwest >instead of Delta, precisely because Northwest promised no lay-offs, while >Delta’s plan included lay-offs. WSJ went on to report that Leo Mullin was >woken up late at night by a call from Continental, telling him that Delta had >lost the deal to Northwest. Mullin’s reaction apparently was "You mean we >lost this deal because of labor?" >As a Continental employee, I know this to be a fact. I attended >an employee meeting with Continental president Greg >Brenneman two days after the famous "late night call to >Leo". He said that Delta was so sure that the takeover was >successful, that they flew in several company reps to >Houston to begin the takeover process. Were they ever >suprised to learn the news about Northwest!
This was some exciting stuff! Further to my earlier post on the cost-cutting philosophies of management consulting firms like McKinsey (where Leo Mullin used to be a partner), it should be pointed out that Greg Brenneman came to Continental from Bain & Co., another top-tier management consulting firm, but one that does have the reputation of putting the human side of cost-cutting into its equations, unlike McKinsey. Interestingly, McKinsey was consultant to Delta during the infamous "Leadership 7.5" cost-cutting program, while Bain was consultant to Continental during the airline’s remarkable turn-around (Brenneman was part of the Bain team then). Need I say more? Sam. (A former management consultant, though not with McKinsey nor Bain…!)
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> I would think a MM/PM would have a better idea of what is going on at Delta… > Mr. Mullin did not "screw up" the Continental deal. > If the deal had gone through it would have meant layoffs of thousands of > people. After the tough times the employees have gone through in recent years, > it was in the best interests of the employees not to merge. This decision won > Mr. Mullin a great deal of respect from the employees. There were certainly > benefits which would have come from a merger, but it was not all peaches and > cream. Through Leo Mullin’s leadership, Delta has acquired new routes, began a > fleet-wide cabin refurbishment, started an information technology renovation > and improved DOT rankings in all areas. You better believe he is going to > improve things at Delta.
If I recall correctly, it was Continental’s CEO not Delta’s who refused the merger terms, primarily because of its impact on labor. Delta’s offer did not ensure jobs in the merged company would’ve been allocated based on the employee seniority at his/her original airline, as previous mergers (such as the one with Western) have had. So in essence, you are correct in saying that the merger would have not been beneficial to employees, however, it was not DL who realized this. CO’s CEO *did* gain a lot of respect from his employees over this -and the city of Houston, needless to say. <snip> > And which employee blamed a decline in service to whining passengers ? > You may think the money you, or more likely, your company spends on Delta is > "supporting" the company. Your slanderous, cynical tone does more harm to the > comapny than your Platinum-coated tushie is worth. How about putting a little > faith in Delta’s efforts to improve ?? Hmmmm….
Funny, I thought davejrlr’s post was neither cynical nor slanderous. He was just making a few well thought out comments and suggestions. Your response, OTOH, as a DL employee, suggests to me a snotty attitude from someone not interesting in listening to his customers and missing the forest for a tree. — Rolando —- The above opinions/comments are strictly my own, not my employer’s. Posting of this message does not imply permission to be placed upon unsolicited email lists. *Please note, to discourage SPAM my e-mail address has been ROT13 scrambled*
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>According to an in-depth report in the >Wall Street Journal, it was *Continental* that decided to go with Northwest >instead of Delta, precisely because Northwest promised no lay-offs, while >Delta’s plan included lay-offs. WSJ went on to report that Leo Mullin was >woken up late at night by a call from Continental, telling him that Delta had >lost the deal to Northwest. Mullin’s reaction apparently was "You mean we >lost >this deal because of labor?"
As a Continental employee, I know this to be a fact. I attended an employee meeting with Continental president Greg Brenneman two days after the famous "late night call to Leo". He said that Delta was so sure that the takeover was successful, that they flew in several company reps to Houston to begin the takeover process. Were they ever suprised to learn the news about Northwest!
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<stuff deleted> >I would think a MM/PM would have a better idea of what is going on at >Delta… Mr. Mullin did not "screw up" the Continental deal. >If the deal had gone through it would have meant layoffs of thousands of >people. After the tough times the employees have gone through in recent years, >it was in the best interests of the employees not to merge. This decision won >Mr. Mullin a great deal of respect from the employees. There were certainly >benefits which would have come from a merger, but it was not all peaches and >cream.
Hmmm…. interesting interpretation. According to an in-depth report in the Wall Street Journal, it was *Continental* that decided to go with Northwest instead of Delta, precisely because Northwest promised no lay-offs, while Delta’s plan included lay-offs. WSJ went on to report that Leo Mullin was woken up late at night by a call from Continental, telling him that Delta had lost the deal to Northwest. Mullin’s reaction apparently was "You mean we lost this deal because of labor?" Don’t get me wrong — I too have been a loyal Delta customer, and am Gold Medallion with them. I have previously posted about the excellent service Delta offers on its international flights in all classes. But I am not so biased as to ignore and disregard what has been researched and published in one of the world’s most respected business newspapers. Your version of what happened sounds like the result of some excellent spin-doctors in Delta’s employee relations. 
Sam. PS: Leo Mullin is ex-McKinsey, a management consulting firm known for its focus on costs and numbers, treating people ("labor") as just another disposable resource. I know I am opening up a can of worms with this remark, but the fact is that most so called "top" consulting firms care very little about the people side of business when doing their cases.
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BS> A valid point, in general. My response is that (1) the flight wasn’t BS> full, (2) water isn’t an especially popular beverage, and (3) he BS> didn’t say anything like, "Wait till I get done, then I’ll see how BS> many I have left." I was on a CVG-SEA flight last week (7 March, 727-200). It wasn’t packed. They ran out of water bottles. Perhaps water is more popular than you thought? Oddly, they did have water in first class, but the coach FA’s didn’t know that (or they *claimed* they didn’t know it). I didn’t care. I had 2 water bottles stashed with me from my previous flight (BOS-CVG) which was SkyDeli and came with the water. –Helen (BOS-CVG-SEA-SLC-BOS trip report to follow later today or tomorrow
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>I, too, am a MM/PM Delta customer and can both agree and >disagree with your
point of view. I agree Delta’s service has >deteriorated over the past couple of years, not past 6 months, >(something about a "7.5" yield program the former CEO >implemented before he was fired) which placed much more of an >emphasis on cost over service.Correspondingly, Delta’s DOT >scores in customer
complaints, mishandled baggage, and on-time >performance are consistently in the bottom half of the major >airlines. Please get your facts correct. Delta’s mishandled bags and customer complaints, according to the DOT have been consistently in the top half of the major airlines. Only the on-time performance has been lacking, which in the most recent DOT results, has shown Delta in 4th place out of 10. >Leo Mullins, the new CEO, has admitted that service has >declined, and says he
is "taking steps" to restore some of the past >service performance, whatever that means. I’m not too optimistic >he can pull it off, as he screwed up the proposed acquisition of >Continental, which would have made DL a real fortress, and >would have been the airline deal of the decade. I would think a MM/PM would have a better idea of what is going on at Delta… Mr. Mullin did not "screw up" the Continental deal. If the deal had gone through it would have meant layoffs of thousands of people. After the tough times the employees have gone through in recent years, it was in the best interests of the employees not to merge. This decision won Mr. Mullin a great deal of respect from the employees. There were certainly benefits which would have come from a merger, but it was not all peaches and cream. Through Leo Mullin’s leadership, Delta has acquired new routes, began a fleet-wide cabin refurbishment, started an information technology renovation and improved DOT rankings in all areas. You better believe he is going to improve things at Delta. And which employee blamed a decline in service to whining passengers ? You may think the money you, or more likely, your company spends on Delta is "supporting" the company. Your slanderous, cynical tone does more harm to the comapny than your Platinum-coated tushie is worth. How about putting a little faith in Delta’s efforts to improve ?? Hmmmm….
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I am also not a Delta employee, but I have flown Delta since 1989, such > as yourself. I have noticed some cuts in amenities, and in seat pitch, > but that is industry standard. These changes in service couldnt have > affected that much, as Delta still manages to carry more passengers > worldwide than any other airline. > If you are such a loyal customer to Delta, than you cannot be too > concerned by blaming the airline itself for it’s new strict adherance to > the rules, as I have noticed that this is a new industry practice in > order of saving money. (I do fly Delta a lot, but not exclusively. I > find Alaska Airlines better serves my needs for travel down the West > Coast and Mexico) > You also mentioned two confined incidences. In an organization of God > knows how many people, there are destined to be a few bad apples. > Perfectly nice people, when crammed into a little tube for most of their > day, and being forced to deal with unruly passengers (But I wanted the > chicken, why can’t I freebase with a blowtorch in the lav, whay do I > have to wear pants? [Yes, I have seen firsthand these instances myself]) > and then smile your way through it, even saints would come out with a > few ruffled feathers. > I advise that you stop bitching about one of the best airlines in the > US, and remember that the only thing that is guarenteed to you by your > ticket, regardless of class, is the safe transportation of you and your > belongings from point A to point B. > Scott
Actually, that is more or less my attitude: With lots of employees and lots of contacts, everyone will have a run-in sooner or later. I was trying to focus more on these employees citing "rules" for their rigid attitudes. I wondered if this is coming from some higher authority, or if they are conducting some kind of "rule-book slowdown." I continue to fly Delta maybe 90% of the time, and I am generally pleased with the airline. I also own lots of their stock, if that says anything. Bruce Schobel
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> Another example: In January, I was in coach flying LAX-JFK. I asked for > "2 or 3" of their little water bottles (8 ounces each). The FA refused, > saying that I would have to ask for them one at a time! I pointed out > that I would certainly drink 3 on a 5-hour flight, and I was just trying > to save him work. He still refused and got pretty ornery about it. I > asked for his name, and he got downright hostile — not to mention still > refusing. Eventually, I got his name (and the water) and wrote to Delta > about the incident.
The problem here is that an aircraft is catered with only "X" amount of food and drink. It is very reasonable for a flight attendant to request that you initially get 1 bottle until everyone gets a chance to be served. If you take 3+ bottles then you’ll start a chain reaction where the people sitting around you want 2 or three bottles and presto the back quarter of the cabin gets zippo. Of course you were probably the last customer to be served and it was the last beverage service of the flight in which case i stand corrected but the reality of the matter is that you were a little greedy and you couldn’t care less about the rest of your fellow passengers. .
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>I fly Delta very frequently.
Good >Over the last 6 months or so, I’ve noticed something that resembles a >"rule-book slowdown,"
They are tired of people yanking their chain. >Another example: In January, I was in coach flying LAX-JFK. I asked for >"2 or 3" of their little water bottles (8 ounces each). The FA refused, >saying that I would have to ask for them one at a time! I >asked for his name, and he got downright hostile — not to mention still >refusing. Eventually, I got his name (and the water) and wrote to Delta >about the incident.
For many years, Delta was the #1 low-complaint airline. Mainly, we in the South use to be more laid back. Now we’re affected by the rat race the folks up north have known for several generations. Alas. No sweet smiling faces from Scarlett. Relax. Have you been hastled by whining passengers all day long. I don’t work for any airline, nor own stock. I’m just tired of the penny anny complaints by passengers. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Are the employees under some sort of pressure that we passengers should >know about? Any Delta people out there want to comment? >Bruce Schobel
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Another example: In January, I was in coach flying LAX-JFK. I asked for > "2 or 3" of their little water bottles (8 ounces each). The FA refused, > saying that I would have to ask for them one at a time! I pointed out > that I would certainly drink 3 on a 5-hour flight, and I was just trying > to save him work. He still refused and got pretty ornery about it. I > asked for his name, and he got downright hostile — not to mention still > refusing. Eventually, I got his name (and the water) and wrote to Delta > about the incident. > The problem here is that an aircraft is catered with only "X" amount of > food and drink. It is very reasonable for a flight attendant to request > that you initially get 1 bottle until everyone gets a chance to be > served. If you take 3+ bottles then you’ll start a chain reaction where > the people sitting around you want 2 or three bottles and presto the > back quarter of the cabin gets zippo. Of course you were probably the > last customer to be served and it was the last beverage service of the > flight in which case i stand corrected but the reality of the matter is > that you were a little greedy and you couldn’t care less about the rest > of your fellow passengers. > .
A valid point, in general. My response is that (1) the flight wasn’t full, (2) water isn’t an especially popular beverage, and (3) he didn’t say anything like, "Wait till I get done, then I’ll see how many I have left." It was more like, "I’m going to make you drink them one at a time before you get any more." I can play the game that way, but it just makes for more work on both our parts. That’s my point: If doing it my way is easier for both of us, why stick to the "rule" (if there even is a rule on such matters). Bruce Schobel
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i’ve noticed that delta fa’s have gotten just plain cranky over the past year or so, even on international flights. so now, in addition to filthy cabins, they have cranky crews….perfect.
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I am also not a Delta employee, but I have flown Delta since 1989, such as yourself. I have noticed some cuts in amenities, and in seat pitch, but that is industry standard. These changes in service couldnt have affected that much, as Delta still manages to carry more passengers worldwide than any other airline. If you are such a loyal customer to Delta, than you cannot be too concerned by blaming the airline itself for it’s new strict adherance to the rules, as I have noticed that this is a new industry practice in order of saving money. (I do fly Delta a lot, but not exclusively. I find Alaska Airlines better serves my needs for travel down the West Coast and Mexico) You also mentioned two confined incidences. In an organization of God knows how many people, there are destined to be a few bad apples. Perfectly nice people, when crammed into a little tube for most of their day, and being forced to deal with unruly passengers (But I wanted the chicken, why can’t I freebase with a blowtorch in the lav, whay do I have to wear pants? [Yes, I have seen firsthand these instances myself]) and then smile your way through it, even saints would come out with a few ruffled feathers. I advise that you stop bitching about one of the best airlines in the US, and remember that the only thing that is guarenteed to you by your ticket, regardless of class, is the safe transportation of you and your belongings from point A to point B. Scott
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> Are the employees under some sort of pressure that we passengers should > know about? Any Delta people out there want to comment? > Bruce Schobel
I, too, am a MM/PM Delta customer and can both agree and disagree with your point of view. I agree Delta’s service has deteriorated over the past couple of years, not past 6 months, (something about a "7.5" yield program the former CEO implemented before he was fired) which placed much more of an emphasis on cost over service.Correspondingly, Delta’s DOT scores in customer complaints, mishandled baggage, and on-time performance are consistently in the bottom half of the major airlines. This is a tangible measurement, not just an opinion, of thier overall performance. The frequent flyer program, while still one of the best, has been reduced in benefit as well, with the restriction on "L" fare upgrades, which affects PM’s more so than any other class of FF, as our upgrades were "unlimited". I still think the upgrade policy is good, but it has been reduced, none the less. Leo Mullins, the new CEO, has admitted that service has declined, and says he is "taking steps" to restore some of the past service performance, whatever that means. I’m not too optimistic he can pull it off, as he screwed up the proposed acquisition of Continental, which would have made DL a real fortress, and would have been the airline deal of the decade. It probably would have helped DL on the service and on-time side as well, as CO has been one of the top performers in these areas for years, and could teach DL a few things. I do thinks it’s rather selfish to ask for 3 water bottles at a time! And, yes, bottled water IS one of the most requested beverages on airlines these days ! And to those airline ee’s that think DL’s decline in service is a result of all of those "whining" passengers, it’s time to find a different job. Those "whining" passengers (and I understand the word "whining" is subjective) pay for the salaries and great travel perks you receive! EVERY job requires putting up with complainers; your job is no different.
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I fly Delta very frequently. I’m MM/PM/FC and have been for several years running. Thus, I have lots of experience to use as a basis for judging the airline’s performance. Over the last 6 months or so, I’ve noticed something that resembles a "rule-book slowdown," where employees rigidly stick to rules, even when doing so is disadvantageous to the airline. One example: In October, I had a ticket from Vancouver to Newark, upgraded to first class. I got to Vancouver Airport early and asked to fly standby on available earlier flight through SLC to JFK, thereby getting home about 7 hours ahead of my ticketed flights. My ticket was L class. They first refused, saying that I HAD to fly to Newark, not JFK (a co-terminal). Then they wanted $50 to make the change. I suggested that I could just wait for my later flights, go first-class to Newark, and they could fly empty seats across the continent. (So there!) Finally, I said just put me on the SLC flight, and I would take it from there. In SLC, I got on the JFK flight without any problem. I sat in coach but didn’t care (and usually don’t). I wrote to Delta about the earlier obstacles, which took so long that the change almost became impossible AND made no sense: I was freeing up first-class seats on later, full flights — one of which was actually overbooked– and taking empty coach seats. Another example: In January, I was in coach flying LAX-JFK. I asked for "2 or 3" of their little water bottles (8 ounces each). The FA refused, saying that I would have to ask for them one at a time! I pointed out that I would certainly drink 3 on a 5-hour flight, and I was just trying to save him work. He still refused and got pretty ornery about it. I asked for his name, and he got downright hostile — not to mention still refusing. Eventually, I got his name (and the water) and wrote to Delta about the incident. In both cases, I got nice responses (one by telephone) from Executive Staff, who apologized profusely (and apparently sincerely). I explained that most of my Delta flights are just fine, I’m still loyal to Delta (and have been since 1989), but I wondered if some new rules are being implemented. The employees just seem so much more rigid than they used to be. No one seems to know about a change in policy. Are the employees under some sort of pressure that we passengers should know about? Any Delta people out there want to comment? Bruce Schobel