For the last three days I have had the experience of trying to get Delta to provide a complimentary upgrade from Coach to First Class. You see a young man who just finished serving his four years in the US Navy was departing Honolulu, HI on Flight #836 today, 9/4/13 to come home to Millbrook, NY via Atlanta and thjrough to White Plains, NY. I wanted to see if I could get Delta to comp him the first class seat since this is a 9 hour flight. I first started out with reservations and they advised Delta has no guidance for that even if the 1st Class seat will fly empty. I then contacted Delta Corporate Public Affairs(Samantha) and she said my message/request would be passed onto the right person. Never heard from anyone. Next, I called Corporate Offices in Atlanta and asked to speak with the secretary to Ed Bostian, President, so that I could run my request through his office. Corporate operators advised they are not permitted to switch phone calls to the Executive Offices and they can only takes messages. Next I reached out to the Honolulu station manager for Delta to see if they could help. Faith in Station Manager, Willard Oshima's office said she would get back to me. Mind you during this time I had been checking the reservation website to see how many 1st Class seats were left. On my last call to Faith, one hour prior to departure, I indicated that there was one seat left; she told me that the seat would definitely be taken by someone who could use miles to upgrade from coach. If the seat flew empty, I asked, could they upgrade this sailor. No response. In desperation, I asked if he could be offered complimentary dinner in Coach. Not skipping a beat, Faith answered, "Yes, could I have your credit card number please so we can charge that meal to you." I merely state the facts on this website and will not offer an opinion of what happened. Thanks.........Alec Pandaleon, American Legion Past County Commander, Millbrook, NY(
aap3rd@hotmail.com ) On the flipside, I will say that when a similar situation arose last year with a returning Marine from Afghanistan coming home to see his 3 day old baby, I contacted Northwest Airlines and they pulled out all the stops: First Class Seating, Priority Boarding and a special message over the PA to the whole plane thanking this young hero for his service to a grateful nation. Way to go Northwest, you are the best !!!!!