[ExNASATerry]

Thanks, Delta, for stranding two of your passengers in MSP to improve your on-time statistics.

I flew Delta from Seattle (SEA) to Ft Wayne (FTA), via Minneapolis (MSP). My flight into MSP was delayed about 15 minutes. I now had only a 25-min layover and rushed as quickly as possible from our landing concourse (F) to our departing concourse (B)--which were the two most widely separated gates in the sprawling MSP terminal. Another passenger and I raced to the departing gate as quickly as we could, arriving out of breath four minutes BEFORE our scheduled departure (7:17pm vs 7:21pm).

The flight was gone! Gate locked and empty, attendants missing. I rushed to an adjoining gate and asked the Delta agent "Where's my plane??" He said, "They pushed backed early."

Moments later, the gate agent returned. When confronted, she said yes, they knew we had been delayed and were enroute to the gate but that "ATC" (Air Traffic Control) had ordered them to push back early. "We had no choice."

"Even though you knew we were only a couple of minutes away?"

"Yes sir. We have to do what ATC orders."

So we missed the last flight to FTW that night because we arrived four minutes early instead of six (according to her), and they couldn't hold the door two extra minutes. Since the original 15 minute delay into MSP was due to air traffic, missing our flight "wasn't Delta's fault" and they would not comp us a hotel room. They helpfully provided us a $2 toiletries kit, world's thinnest t-shirt, and a four-foot-square rag to use as a blanket, and invited us to find a comfortable spot somewhere on the airport floor.

When I finally got home, I talked to a friend of mine who is a captain for another major airline. He said that the excuse was total B.S. ATC does *not* tell a pilot when to close up and push away from the gate. He said they may give a pilot a "wheels-up" time if there is expected congestion at the destination airport, but not when to shut the door and push back. (And there was NO congestion at the mighty Ft. Wayne Airport at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night! We were the last flight in.) He said a lot of airlines have been pressuring pilots to push back earlier than scheduled *even if the passengers haven't arrived* in order to make their on-time statistics look better! Or the crew were in a hurry to get home and just left us behind.

So I missed a day of my trip, got 2-3 hours of miserable sleep, all because they wouldn't hold the door for 2 minutes for two passengers connecting from their own delayed aircraft--even when they still could have made their on-time departure. At the start of the trip, we had even been offered $500 vouchers to give up our seats and fly out the next day. Bottom line: they still took our seats and made us fly out the next day anyway, but we received no vouchers and had to sleep on the cold airport floor. And then they blamed it on ATC rather than accepting responsibility.

I used my Delta frequent flier miles for the trip. Good thing, too; because Delta won't be awarding me any more miles, as I'll never fly them again.