[Quinn]

Last Thursday my family flew back from Spokane, WA to Washington, and it had to be the worst trip ever.

Things got off to a bad start when our original Delta Flight 4479 on 12/10 from Spokane, WA to Salt Lake City, UT at 11:30AM was canceled and we were rebooked on Delta Flight 4571 leaving at 10:20AM. Thankfully, the flight from Spokane to Salt Lake was uneventful and we arrived safely.

However, from this point on, things turned ugly. We were originally scheduled to leave Salt Lake City at 4:45PM on Delta Flight 1126 for Washington Dulles airport, and again our flight was changed. We were rebooked to Delta Flight 1264 leaving Salt Lake City at 5:05PM for Washington Dulles airport. While waiting at the Salt Lake City airport, at 3:55PM Salt Lake City time, we got a call informing us that Delta Flight 1264 was canceled and we were rebooked on Delta Flight 1276 leaving at 5:30PM headed for Baltimore Washington airport. BWI is over 60 miles away from our original destination and in a different state. We got just over an hour notice and were told that the change was due to a mechanical issue and there would be no other flights to Washington Dulles airport from Salt Lake that day. We had no choice but to take Flight 1276 to Baltimore Washington airport, which ended up leaving Salt Lake City 45 minutes late.

Keep in mind that we are traveling with two small children ages 3 and 6, and we have been on the road since 10AM that day. We finally landed at Baltimore Washington airport at 11:30PM and the approach and landing was so rough, my 6 year old ended up vomiting on the plane, something he has never done in his six years of traveling back and forth on cross country flights (and he is the roller coaster junkie in the family).

Delta did arrange ground transportation to Washington Dulles for the 40 or so passengers originally booked on flight 1264, but offered no help with our luggage, and it was very difficult to find our bags and carry two small exhausted children. After another 20 minutes, we finally got our luggage and found the bus headed for Washington Dulles airport.

The bus traveled no more than 3 miles before the trip was interrupted because of a flat tire (which I suspect was already flat when the bus arrived at BWI), and we were left stranded on the side of the highway at 1AM in the freezing cold weather. Finally, just before 2AM, two mini-buses showed up, and we were all crammed into the two mini-buses with our luggage (I had 3 bags on my lap due to the lack of space in the bus) for the hour drive to Washington Dulles airport. We finally got to Washington Dulles airport at 3AM on the morning of 12/11 and arrived at our house at 3:30AM completely exhausted from this grueling experience with Delta airlines.

What was supposed to be a simple flight back from the West Coast turned into a 17 hour nightmare trip for us, and completely disrupted my work plans for Friday. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating and exhausting this experience has been, and the physical toll on my wife and kids. I am angry at Delta for picking the cheapest options instead of doing what is in the best interests of the customer. I can’t believe there wasn’t a spare aircraft and standby air crew at the Salt Lake City hub to substitute for the broken plane to fly us back to Washington Dulles or hiring a bus with up-to-date and safe equipment.



I have sent emails to Delta's customer service and CEO, and guess what... no response whatsoever. It's amazing how Delta manages to stay in business...