Their response after their internal "investigation" that is full of lies
Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the service provided while
traveling with us to Cape Town on April 4 and returning on April 12 from
Johannesburg to Atlanta on Flight 201. *On behalf of everyone at Delta
Air Lines and our SkyTeam partner, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, I sincerely
apologize for the confusion with your seat assignments and the
discomfort you encountered.
To begin, I appreciate the time you took to share your experience with
your seat assignment on Flight 201. *After reading your communication, I
certainly understand why you wanted to bring this matter to our
attention. *It is disconcerting to learn of the time and effort you took
to ensure your seating to accommodate your disability; however, you feel
your seat was changed and you received conflicting information. *Please
know we recognize the importance of providing our special needs
passengers with seating that makes their travel safe and comfortable.
Therefore, I have taken a moment to carefully review your communication
and your Electronic Ticket Record (ETR) 0067210157954. *Allow me to
explain my findings. *According to your ETR, your seats were requested
in advance of your travel. *When you made your reservation on March 1,
you were given seat 50 J. *You then called our reservations supervisor
and requested a window seat with extra leg room due to your disability
and being claustrophobic. *You were then assigned seat 44 D, then
changed to 36 A, due to the fact that there were no window bulkhead
seats available. *On April 9 you called our supervisor once again and it
was confirmed you were still in seat 36 A. *There were still no other
seats to assign and seat 36 A was not an Economy Comfort seat. *The
records indicate when you checked-in for Flight 201 in Johannesburg, you
were changed from seat 36 A to 36 G.
For a further explanation of your experience, I requested a report from
our station manager in Johannesburg. *The report stated the agents
remember Mrs. Ratliff. *While checking in for her flight, Ms. Ratliff
asked for a different seat. *When the agent was not able to change her
seat, Ms. Reva Ratliff asked to speak to a supervisor. *She was then
sent to speak to the supervisor at Counter A17, Baggage Drop off
counter, in which the supervisor proceeded to ask Ms. Reva Ratliff how
he could assist. *Ms. Ratliff advised him that she would like her
Economy Comfort seat back since she has now been moved. *The supervisor
had looked into the reservation history and found out or discovered that
Ms. Ratliff was not seated on an Economy Comfort seat and also saw that
Ms. Ratliff had a remark in her Reservation that it was okay to waive
Economy Comfort Seat / Preferred seat. *Also stated in the reservation
was a remark stating when Ms. Ratliff had left the United States, no
window or bulkhead seat was available. *The supervisor then explained to
Ms. Ratliff that no ECC (Economy Comfort) seat was available now on the
day of departure.
The supervisor advised Ms. Ratliff that he would unfortunately not be
able to assign the ECC seat. *He then asked Ms. Ratliff if he could seat
her in a Preferred Seat, either a window or an aisle seat. Ms. Ratliff
was upset but advised the supervisor that an aisle seat was fine. *Ms.
Ratliff was pre-seated in 36G. *The supervisor advised Ms. Ratliff that
when the flight was closed, he would look into alternative seating to
see if anything becomes available in the ECC section. *Unfortunately, no
ECC seat was available on the day of departure. Accordingly, our records
show your request was handled properly and no violation of 14CFR, Part
382 has occurred due to the fact you were seated in a Preferred seat on
the aisle.
Please know I provide this information for clarification purposes only.
It is in no way meant to minimize the consequences to you. *Allow me to
apologize for any misunderstandings or miscommunication on the part of
our agents regarding your seating. *Your correspondence makes it clear
we did not provide the service you were expecting and I am very sorry
for the frustration and discomfort you encountered. *Moving forward we
will continue to brief our employees on the importance of taking care of
passengers with special needs.
Also, I appreciate the feelings you described when you called our
reservations to change your seat assignments. *We are privileged to
serve thousands of customers from around the world every day and as a
result of our efforts to meet the needs of a diverse customer base, your
comments were disheartening and taken very seriously. *I am truly sorry
for this upsetting experience.
I realize you feel the agents were discriminating against you with the
seating they provided due to your disability. *I understand your
interpretation of this event and I want to assure you this incident has
been reviewed with the team members involved. *We acknowledge it may not
have been handled with the type of customer service focus we expect.
Appropriate action will be taken through education and counseling to
ensure a similar situation does not occur in the future.
Most importantly, I want to assure you that Delta Air Lines and our
Delta Connection Carriers are committed to providing assistance to all
passengers with special needs. *I have shared a copy of your
communication with our Airport Customer Service and In-flight leadership
teams so they can review our procedures and initiate appropriate
internal processes to prevent a recurrence of the event you outlined.
We appreciate the opportunity to resolve this matter directly and
address your concerns. *You may, should you wish to do so, contact the
U.S. Department of Transportation about this matter.
It is always helpful for passengers to review their needs for assistance
with our team member at the gate and with the crew onboard their flight.
The gate agent will make a pre-boarding announcement allowing those
passengers with special needs additional time to board the aircraft
before boarding other passengers.
For future reference, the services we offer are outlined on our web site
at delta.com. *Also, if you experience a challenge while traveling with
us or the assistance you requested is not provided, we encourage you to
ask for a Complaint Resolution Official (CRO). *A CRO is available at
all times of airport operation either in person or by telephone. *CRO’s
are specially trained to handle issues related to our passengers with
disabilities. *We want to ensure we are providing the very best service
possible when special assistance is required.
Finally, letting us know in advance of your travel how we can assist you
will generally result in a smoother trip. *Priority will be given to
those customers who have advance requests shown in their reservation and
on their boarding pass. *The team at our Disability Assistance Line,
404-209-3434, is available to assist you with any special requests prior
to, during, or after completion of your travel. *I encourage you to make
a note of this number which is available exclusively for our passengers
with special needs.
Respectfully, I am unable to honor your request to refund your money for
Flight 201. *However, in an effort to express our apologies for your
disappointment with your seat assignments as well as the disappointing
customer service received from our agents, I have added 9,500 bonus
miles to your SkyMiles account. *Please allow three business days for
the miles to appear.
Ms. Ratliff, I hope I have been able to address your concerns regarding
your travel on April 12. *Your comments serve as an excellent reminder
to us of the importance of doing our best every day to meet the needs of
our customers. *As a SkyMiles member since 2005, you are an integral
part of our customer base and we are always interested in your feedback.
Hopefully you will choose to fly with us again and allow us an
opportunity to demonstrate our commitment of service excellence. *I am
confident Delta will not only meet but exceed your expectations.
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