[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...

[PHXFlyer]

First of all that sounds like it was indeed a rough trip for you, but let me just make a few comments.

First since the SLC-IAD flight cancellation was due to a mechanical issue and there were no more flights on Delta to IAD that day you could have requested to be put up in a hotel in SLC and travel to IAD the next day. An airline can never force you to go to an alternate destination for which you are not ticketed. You have every right to demand that you be flown to your original ticketed destination even if it it's the next day. Also since it was mechanical and not weather related you can also demand that if the airliene can't get you to your destination within four hours of the original time they must try to re-book you on another airline if there is space available. United has a hub @IAD and I'm sure there would have been options on UA.

Although pilots and passengers alike would like totally smooth flights all of the time
turbulence and chop occasionally cause a rough ride. I'm sorry your child developed motion sickness because of it but do you really think the pilots intentionally made the approach rocky? I'm sure they did the best they could given the wind and weather conditions.

I'm not sure why you are complaining about having to deal with your bags @BWI. Had you traveled to IAD you still would have claimed them in baggae claim and schlepped them to your car. Did you really think Delta was going to send baggage handlers out to load your bags on the bus? That's an unreasonable expectation. Also the flat tire wasn't Delta's fault either but you seem to be blaming them for that somehow. Flat tires happen. That it happened to you after this long travel ordeal was entirely coincidental.

As to not receiving a reply to your e-mail yet, this was just Thursday. I'm assuming you sent the e-mail Friday? And it's now just Monday. Give then some time.

[Quinn]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer

First of all that sounds like it was indeed a rough trip for you, but let me just make a few comments.

First since the SLC-IAD flight cancellation was due to a mechanical issue and there were no more flights on Delta to IAD that day you could have requested to be put up in a hotel in SLC and travel to IAD the next day. An airline can never force you to go to an alternate destination for which you are not ticketed. You have every right to demand that you be flown to your original ticketed destination even if it it's the next day. Also since it was mechanical and not weather related you can also demand that if the airliene can't get you to your destination within four hours of the original time they must try to re-book you on another airline if there is space available. United has a hub @IAD and I'm sure there would have been options on UA.

Although pilots and passengers alike would like totally smooth flights all of the time
turbulence and chop occasionally cause a rough ride. I'm sorry your child developed motion sickness because of it but do you really think the pilots intentionally made the approach rocky? I'm sure they did the best they could given the wind and weather conditions.

I'm not sure why you are complaining about having to deal with your bags @BWI. Had you traveled to IAD you still would have claimed them in baggae claim and schlepped them to your car. Did you really think Delta was going to send baggage handlers out to load your bags on the bus? That's an unreasonable expectation. Also the flat tire wasn't Delta's fault either but you seem to be blaming them for that somehow. Flat tires happen. That it happened to you after this long travel ordeal was entirely coincidental.

As to not receiving a reply to your e-mail yet, this was just Thursday. I'm assuming you sent the e-mail Friday? And it's now just Monday. Give then some time.

I did asked a Delta supervisor at Salt Lake City about staying over and taking next morning's first flight back to Dulles or rebooking on another carrier. I was told that the only option was to take the BWI flight and they would not put us up in a hotel and would charge us to change our tickets. Now it may or may not violate their policy, but that what was told to me.

If I was traveling by myself, I would have probably stayed at Salt Lake and duked it out with the Delta agent. But since I had two little kids with me, at the time, it appeared to be the best option.

As for the baggage, part of the problem was our bags showed up at a complete different carousal than the one posted on the boards and told to us by the gate agent who met us at landing. It's hard to try to carry kids and find one's luggage at an unfamiliar airport at the same time.

As for blaming Delta for the flat tire. yeah, I do blame them. I paid them to transport me from Spokane, WA to Washington Dulles airport. Until I actually arrived at the destination, I believe it's still Delta's responsibility for my trip.

[Quinn]

And you're right that I probably didn't give Delta enough time to respond. It did worry me that I didn't even get an automate acknowledgment when I sent in my concern through Delta website and customer care email. This led me to believe that my email ended up in a black hole in Delta's email server/website.

[Quinn]

Update!

I received a response from Delta this morning regarding my compliant about last week's flight. They have apologized and issued me travel vouchers as compensation.

So I am happy to say that folks at Delta are listening and I am happy with their response.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by Quinn

I did asked a Delta supervisor at Salt Lake City about staying over and taking next morning's first flight back to Dulles or rebooking on another carrier. I was told that the only option was to take the BWI flight and they would not put us up in a hotel and would charge us to change our tickets. Now it may or may not violate their policy, but that what was told to me.

Originally Posted by Quinn

Update!

I received a response from Delta this morning regarding my compliant about last week's flight. They have apologized and issued me travel vouchers as compensation.

So I am happy to say that folks at Delta are listening and I am happy with their response.

Hold on here! If the cancellation was indeed due to a mechanical issue and you specifically asked about the options of overnighting in SLC and/or re-booking on another carrier and Delta refused you either option nad strong-armed you into accepting the flight to BWI instead then they indeed violated their own policy as stated in their contract of carriage. You should file a complaint with the DOT. You never mentioned the dollar value of the vouchers issued but given your predicament I would not have accepted anything less than $300 per person. I would also have pressed for a refund of the return portion of your ticket since Delta didn't fly you to IAD. They will try to claim that IAD/DCA/BWI are all in the DC metro area but they are not considered co-terminals like JFK/LGA which are only 12 miles apart.

Originally Posted by Quinn

As for the baggage, part of the problem was our bags showed up at a complete different carousal than the one posted on the boards and told to us by the gate agent who met us at landing. It's hard to try to carry kids and find one's luggage at an unfamiliar airport at the same time.

Happens all the time. Again, just a coincidence it also happened to you on this trip.

Originally Posted by Quinn

As for blaming Delta for the flat tire. yeah, I do blame them. I paid them to transport me from Spokane, WA to Washington Dulles airport. Until I actually arrived at the destination, I believe it's still Delta's responsibility for my trip.

Once while in Newark I was rebooked on another Continental flight that departed from terminal A rather than C. Newark airport has a "monorail" type "train" that runs between the terminals. Between terminal B and C the train stopped. And didn't move for about 20 minutes. By the time I got to the A terminal, went through security, etc. I missed my flight and had to be re-booked again. So by your logic I should have blamed Continental for the breakdown of the AirTrain which is operated by the Port Authority and not Continental?

[Quinn]

I'm not sure how filing a complaint with DOT would help. After you submit the form, the message says they don't address complaints individually, but it all goes into their records database.

True... it probably does happen all the time, but too many coincidences on this trip added up to an exhausting and terrible trip.

The logic for blaming Delta... take a look from this point of view. If you booked a trip from a travel agency and things go terribly wrong. Who do you go to for a refund? The party who booked it for you and took your money or the service provider who may not have a direct contractual relationship with you?

Any how, I got the apology that I wanted and as far as I am concern, this episode with Delta is thankfully over.