TonyC
Frederick's Happy Face
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2002
- Posts
- 3,050
I had the privilege to deadhead on Delta from Memphis to Greenville-Spartanburg early last week. At the risk of starting a flame war, I'd like to relate the experience and ask a question.
Before we even closed the door in Memphis, the lead flight attendant asked us to all pick up any trash around us before we exited the plane in Atlanta. She explained that the flight was part of a test program where they were going to try to turn the airplane quickly in Atlanta. Our assistance, therefore, was enlisted to insure the airplane was cleaned quickly between our arrival in Atlanta and the subsequent departure from Atlanta. (OK, I confess, I almost thought I had mistakenly boarded a JetBlue flight.
Hold the flames, I'm just teasing!)
Is there such a "test program"?
I must say I was impressed by her sincere expression of gratitude for our flying Delta that day. She encouraged us to limit our choice of beverages to just one (just a Diet Coke instead of a Diet Coke and a water, for instance) because of the short length of the MEM-ATL leg, but she did it in such a nice way. Although the service wasn't particularly special, her "sweet talk" made it seem that way.
Again, in our descent into ATL, she reminded us of the need to pick up any litter we might find nearby and leave it in the seat upon our departure from the airplane. This repeat of the request made me believe that she was really serious about some "test program."
I was quite impressed when I observed her returning coats to the first class passengers (I was seated just a couple of rows behind first). Not only did she thank each of the first class passengers for flying with Delta that day, she called each one of them BY NAME and shook their hand. "Thank you SO MUCH Mr. Jones for flying with us today." "Thank you Mrs. Smith..." and so on. I was amazed. No, she wasn't carrying the manifest in her hand and referring to it between rows.
I was confused when she intructed those who would be continuing on that airplane on its next leg of travel how to leave the airplane and what time to reboard to learn that the next leg, the "quick turn," was almost an hour after our arrival. Is that a quick turn for Delta?
I did notice 4 or 5 individuals standing at different points along the jetway and the podium area who were carrying clipboards and seemed to be watching the deboarding process with considerable interest. I surmised they were not there to help customers, as I observed one directing a passenger to a CSA when he was asked about a connecting flight. One would have guessed that these clipboard folks were indeed studying some aspect of this flight.
So, what gives? Is there really some kind of "customer cleans" test program? What does Delta consider to be a quick turn?
Oh, and before somebody tries this tact ... I don't mind cleaning up after myself. In fact, I would be embarrassed to leave a mess behind. The point is, I don't recall ever being asked by a flight attendant to clean up, and certainly not aksed to look around me to see if there's any trash in the area around me. This just sounded odd.
.
Before we even closed the door in Memphis, the lead flight attendant asked us to all pick up any trash around us before we exited the plane in Atlanta. She explained that the flight was part of a test program where they were going to try to turn the airplane quickly in Atlanta. Our assistance, therefore, was enlisted to insure the airplane was cleaned quickly between our arrival in Atlanta and the subsequent departure from Atlanta. (OK, I confess, I almost thought I had mistakenly boarded a JetBlue flight.
Hold the flames, I'm just teasing!)Is there such a "test program"?
I must say I was impressed by her sincere expression of gratitude for our flying Delta that day. She encouraged us to limit our choice of beverages to just one (just a Diet Coke instead of a Diet Coke and a water, for instance) because of the short length of the MEM-ATL leg, but she did it in such a nice way. Although the service wasn't particularly special, her "sweet talk" made it seem that way.
Again, in our descent into ATL, she reminded us of the need to pick up any litter we might find nearby and leave it in the seat upon our departure from the airplane. This repeat of the request made me believe that she was really serious about some "test program."
I was quite impressed when I observed her returning coats to the first class passengers (I was seated just a couple of rows behind first). Not only did she thank each of the first class passengers for flying with Delta that day, she called each one of them BY NAME and shook their hand. "Thank you SO MUCH Mr. Jones for flying with us today." "Thank you Mrs. Smith..." and so on. I was amazed. No, she wasn't carrying the manifest in her hand and referring to it between rows.
I was confused when she intructed those who would be continuing on that airplane on its next leg of travel how to leave the airplane and what time to reboard to learn that the next leg, the "quick turn," was almost an hour after our arrival. Is that a quick turn for Delta?
I did notice 4 or 5 individuals standing at different points along the jetway and the podium area who were carrying clipboards and seemed to be watching the deboarding process with considerable interest. I surmised they were not there to help customers, as I observed one directing a passenger to a CSA when he was asked about a connecting flight. One would have guessed that these clipboard folks were indeed studying some aspect of this flight.
So, what gives? Is there really some kind of "customer cleans" test program? What does Delta consider to be a quick turn?
Oh, and before somebody tries this tact ... I don't mind cleaning up after myself. In fact, I would be embarrassed to leave a mess behind. The point is, I don't recall ever being asked by a flight attendant to clean up, and certainly not aksed to look around me to see if there's any trash in the area around me. This just sounded odd.
.
