[shikha dalmia]

I am a journalist and frequently fly all over the world. I have had my share of rude -- very rude -- flight attendants, crappy meals and delayed flights etc. etc. But I have never experienced the level of callousness and disregard for customer welfare that Delta demonstrated in February when I was trying to get back home to Detroit , where I live, from Bombay via New York.

My connecting flight on Feb 14, Wed, got cancelled because of the big snow storm. I was forced to stay overnight in New York without any help or reimbursement from Delta to find me a hotel or pay for it. "We are not responsible for weather-related delays," every Delta agent chanted.

But when I got to the Delta terminal in JFK the next day, there was total chaos. I have never encountered anything like this even in a Third World country. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people crammed into various lines -- to check-in, get through security or, like me, rebook cancelled flights from the day before. My line had at least 500 people with two Delta agents on the counter. I waitied in line for hours while my husbad in Detroit tried to get someone on the phone. Finally, when I got through to a Delta agent I was told that they could not rebook me on any Delta flight till Saturday -- three days after my arrival in New York! Nor could they book me on any other airline, I was told, because there computer system had broken down.

Left with no option, with great difficulty and afraid I was going to be stranded in NY for three days without any help from Delta, I found a Continental flight out of New Ark and flew out that evening on my own dime. I wrote to Delta a few days later requesting to be reimbursed for my expenses which, not counting my Wed hotel stay of about $200, add up to $636.40. I provided all the receipts. More than a month later, I got a letter for a Michael Barzey at Customer Care effecitvely telling me to take a hike.

I called him yesterday and continued to take zero responsibility for what happened on grounds that it was related to weather or field conditions that Delta has no control over. I pointed out to him that, if that was the case, how did Northwest fly two of its three scheduled flights from JFK to Detroit Metro (NW 898, 894) that same day? They also flew six out of seven scheduled flights from Newark to Detroit Metro (NW 659, 653, 657, 651, 655, 649) and eight out of nine flights to Detroit from La Guardia (NW 211, 1595, 539, 337, 531, 543, 527, 537, 529). Similarly, Continental flew all six of their scheduled flights from Newark to Detroit (CO 2066, 2820, 3052, 877, 2396, 2744). Even American Airlines, which, like Delta, uses regional jets – Embraer RJ 140s that seat about 50 – in its La Guardia to Detroit runs flew four of its five scheduled flights (Am 4869, 4854, 4880, 4832). All in all, other airlines flew out 26 flights in the same weather/field conditions that Delta couldn't. Delta's failure after Wednesday had nothing to do with the weahter and everything to do with its own ineptitude.

I left a message for a Jenna Laughlin at Corporate Communications yesterday after being dissed by Barzey. She ignored my call. I tried again this morning and was told that she can't talk to me all day because she is tied up in meetings!!

I would urge Delta to stop stonewalling, send me my full reimbursement and demonstrate that it does give a hoot about its customers and its responsibilities toward them. When it sold me the ticket, it had promised to fly me back to Detroit -- not New York. Leaving me stranded in New York for so many days without taking any responsibility most likely violates its contractual obligations and most definitely every priniciple of good business conduct.

If I don't hear back soon, I plan to file an Online Compalint with the federal DOT and all take this up with FAA. The latter doesn't help resolve customer complains, but does invite them to track the level of care an airline is providing its customers.


Shikha Dalmia