Delta's premium product $ucks, says frequent flier

[CLE145CA]

I'm gonna call BS on this. In 7 years at DL, nonrevving a few trips a month, I have ALWAYS gotten at least a beverage service on the plane. Even the short trips down to DAB or PNS or CHS.
Maybe an issue with catering that day??

You can call "BS" all you want on this. I asked him twice to make sure he didn't miss something, wasn't sleeping or if he was just plane exaggerating. My parents aren't novice travelers by anyone's stretch of the imagination. Having a son in the industry (and my mother's entire side of the family in the business), I don't expect my father was telling me a BS story in the least.

If there was a catering issue on this particular flight, then there was no announcement to the passengers to indicate it with an apology from the crew for the incovenience.

 

[tuna pimp]

Sorry, I just find it odd.

I can't say the inflight service at DL is always the most friendly but I can't think of a time when they didn't at least serve drinks for no reason. Sometimes they only offer 2 or 3 choices on the really short hops. In fact, the coach class service offerings have been improved/expanded somewhat to include crackers, granola bars, peanuts, etc..

 

[tuna pimp]

This is yet another reason why Delta should, and will, be going away.

~~~^~~~

Nice. Now why don't you go F yourself.

 

[ivauir]

What you fail to take into account is that AA, DL, UA, etc will eventually become one of those very LCCs you talk about. In fact, AA's costs are right about where SWA's are... 'cept we still have way more overhead.

Huh? The numbers I've seen don't show you anywhere close. I don't have my numbers handy, but if I can find em I'll post em. BTW I am not flamming or slamming or anything, I am just curious about what numbers you've seen... I like to be educated. I do know that your costs have plummeted and that more change is afoot, but our costs have dropped too (excluding fuel).

BTW I don't think anybody "needs to die". I do think that robbing pensions and using chapter 11 as a business plan is bogus.

 

[General Lee]

Delta ( and DL Connection since they are the same in the passenger's mind ) do need to put more emphasis on getting the cabin staff to serve the passengers. The "fast break" and other time related service limitations have simply become a tool to justify laziness. These days even new hire flight attendants zip up to the flight deck with one question "how long is the flight?" The answer, if less than one hour, is always met with glee, along with a comment like, "I don't have to do nothin... yippee."

As a passenger who buys the last minute fares for my business travel, I can assure you that a cup of coffee on an early morning flight, or a bottle of water in a 100 degree passenger cabin is very welcome and expected.

Delta has made "rules" about service that are becoming excuses for not even trying. This is a management problem. If management sets such low standards you can be sure that the implementation is going to be even worse back in row 14.

On some flights ( while stuck at the gate for WX, MX, etc... I have made a point of handing out drinks and snacks to passengers who want them. It is not that I have any great love for this Company, but people should be treated the way we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes....

This is yet another reason why Delta should, and will, be going away.

~~~^~~~

Ha HA. Fins, you need to go away. Have you not thrown your stuff together and tried Airtran or CAL? Please, do it, you sound miserable.

So, DL will go away, eh? Doubt it. Delta has only one union, which means we are very flexible. We may go to court, but implementing new decrees from a judge won't be tough at all. We already have a plan in the works, but we are a bit late in implementing it. That is the big problem here. The pension problem looks like it will get better with the 14 year extension. Even with a Chap 11, the pensions will probably stay intact due to that legislation that probably will pass. And, if we do go, we can restructure and try to get rid of some of the high RJ debt we have, and you can work for Pinnacle out of DTW after the merger. If you need a jump, I will be the FO on the DC-9 three gates away. The new name? DELWEST. I like it.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

You can call "BS" all you want on this. I asked him twice to make sure he didn't miss something, wasn't sleeping or if he was just plane exaggerating. My parents aren't novice travelers by anyone's stretch of the imagination. Having a son in the industry (and my mother's entire side of the family in the business), I don't expect my father was telling me a BS story in the least.

If there was a catering issue on this particular flight, then there was no announcement to the passengers to indicate it with an apology from the crew for the incovenience.

Come on now, everyone has had bad experiences on EVERY airline. My dad's mom's ex sister-n-law hated CAL because she was stuck in EWR for an extra 50 minutes due to a MX issue........ There are people who strive to do well, and there are people who are burned out. We all know that. Don't make an assumption that every flight is like the one you described. That would be like me saying all CAL pilots are scabs. That is just NOT the case.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[aa73]

Huh? The numbers I've seen don't show you anywhere close. I don't have my numbers handy, but if I can find em I'll post em. BTW I am not flamming or slamming or anything, I am just curious about what numbers you've seen... I like to be educated. I do know that your costs have plummeted and that more change is afoot, but our costs have dropped too (excluding fuel).

BTW I don't think anybody "needs to die". I do think that robbing pensions and using chapter 11 as a business plan is bogus.

I don't have my #s handy either, but according to our latest stats posted by the copmany and union, we are down pretty close to SWA's unit cost, except for the fact that your overhead is significantly lower, which is why you guys are consistently profitable and we're not (consistent, anyway.) The # I remember being posted was something like 8c/mile.

 

[General Lee]

Fins and Medflyer,​

Business travelers still prefer the “legacy carriers” when it comes time to hit the road, but one low-cost carrier, Southwest, now ranks among the top five preferred airline brands according to the YPB&R/Yankelovich Partners 2005 National Business Travel Monitor™. And although its recent financial performance has been the subject of critical coverage in the business press, Delta still reigns as the preferred airline for business travelers as reflected in the following table:

AIRLINE PERCENT MENTIONS​

Delta52%​

American42%​

Southwest39%​

United29%​

Northwest20%​

[size=-2]*Percentage of active business travelers who mentioned the airline as among their “preferred three” when traveling for business[/size]​

 

[Midnight Mike]

My father's experience on DL has not been the best lately either. On one recent three-hour flight to ATL connecting on to his destination, there was no service at all. When I mean no service it was just that. No juice, no coffee, no water---nothing! He had asked the FA when he boarded if they were going to serve coffee because the airport concessions were not yet open so he couldn't get some. (This was a 0600 departure to ATL.) She responded, "There is no service on this flight." He thought she was joking. Sure enough during the flight he said not one flight attendant passed through the aisle. He said at that point he did a count and there were 50 people on the 737-800. So on a three-hour flight these flight attedants couldn't even offer water?

My parents do a lot of traveling and they don't non-rev anywhere. I told my father to write the airline since, as a paying passenger, he has the right to "vent his frustration" over poor, unfriendly and uncaring service.

Sorry, I am going to raise the BS flag on this one, I have never heard of something like this, your trying to say that the F/A did not offer refreshments, I highly doubt it, sorry, but this is one that I do not believe.

 

[General Lee]

Our pilots were soooo smooth that his Dad just fell asleep after takeoff and woke up at his destination at the gate. That seems more plausible.


Bye Bye--General Lee