[BillG]

This is an excerpt from a letter of complaint my wife and I sent Delta Airlines:

My wife and I were horrified by the treatment of our son by
the Delta ground and flight crew on April 19, 2011. My wife, son and I were travelling with a large school group of about 80 students and adults. I would like to point out that our son has Special Needs. He has Down syndrome, he is non-verbal, and he suffers from low muscle tone which keeps him from being mobile. He uses an adaptive wheelchair stroller because he is incapable of walking medium or long distances. Our original flight was cancelled because of mechanical problems and we were placed onto another plane bound for Boston.

First let me state, I understand that the situation was stressful and many people both from our group, other passangers and Delta employees were feeling frustrated and inconvenienced by the changes. That being said, when my wife, son and I approached the woman running the ticket counter at Gate 71 in Orlando to get our tickets reassigned, we were treated as if we were a nuisance simply because my son was in a wheelchair. She complained to us that this would be a problem for seating and that we must wait separately from our group as she "fixed the problem". We were pushed to the side and made to wait away from our group, feeling as though we were second class citizens.

We were finally assigned seats andwe boarded the flight. We flew from Orlando to Atlanta without incident.We were told in flight that we would have to deplane in Atlanta and receive new boarding passes for the same plane because it was a considered a different flight. Again, it was inconvenient, but we could understand and that it was inconvenient for everyone.

We allowed people needing to make connecting flights to deplane first as instructed by our flight attendents. My wife and I also allowed a majority of passengers leave so we could then safely and carefully move our son who had fallen asleep during the flight. Again, our son is disabled, weighs 50 lbs. and was now asleep. At no time did any flight attendents offer assistance, and as we were moving our son and getting ready to deplane, 2 flight attendants moved past without stopping or helping.

As I walked from economy to first class, I heard the flight crew talking and complaining about my wife and son, asking, "what's taking them so long." they were also complaining they were tired, etc. and sounded angry about our situation. I retrieved my son's stroller which was stored under the plane for the flight and waiting just outside the plane door. As I was
setting it up to bring back into the plane, I was greeted by yells from members of the flight crew to "hurry up!" and "get that wheelchair in here!" They were angry we were taking so long, that we needed time to move our son off the plane, and that his disability was wasting their time. They were extremely unprofessional. You should be appalled and embarrassed by there actions.

To add further insult to the situation, when my wife, son and I were reassigned seats for the connecting flight to Boston, which was on the same plane we just deplaned, we were in different seats and not seated together. It was at this time my frustration boiled over. I had simply had enough.

These actions by your employees go beyond simple frustration or inconvenience. Americans with Disabilities Act affords my son certain rights. My son has the right to be able to fly comfortably and treated with the same amount of dignity as any of your other passangers. These rights, my son's civil rights, were violated by your employees both on the ground at Gate 71 in Orlandoand by the flight crew on DL408 on April 19, 2011, and I want to know what you at Delta Airlines are going to do about this.

Their response was less than stellar to say the least:

Unfortunately, your ETR did not show a special service request had been made, in advance of your travel, indicating you had requested assistance due to a disability. It was also noted, in your reservation, verification was made that oxygen or special assistance was not required for this group booking.

Sooooo, unless you advise us ahead of time, we can treat you with complete contempt and disrespect. Be damned the situation at hand, YOU deserve no dignity if you don't tell us we need to do it beforehand!

Furthermore, this was also stated in their response:

I have obtained statements from the Flight Attendants and while I understand your interpretation of the events, their version is somewhat different from yours. The reports have stated there was some confusion regarding the need for passengers going to Boston to deplane as the aircraft they were on was the same onegoing to Boston. However, it was determined as the flight was originating in Atlanta it was required that all passengers and their belonging be deplaned.

Uuuuummmm... Where in my complaint did I say I had a problem with this? I did not. Yes, it was inconvenient. But it was inconvenient for everyone. I was simply stating the circumstances that ultimately had us moving slower and getting off the plane with the last of the passangers. I knew it would simply take the extra time. And THAT'S when the flight crew's behavior was awful and unprofessional, i.e. my complaint.

So, to clarify - you DON'T understand "my interpretation" of events. You obviously didn't carefully read my complaint at all.

But still, going on:

At no time did our crew members witness rude behavior toward your family and the crew is deeply apologetic for any misunderstanding or miscommunication that may have occurred. It was also stated that wheelchair assistance was offered to you however, you declined this service.

A lie. We have witnesses that saw the lack of any help offered by the flight crew and heard them yell at me to "get that wheelchair in here!" Of course YOUR PEOPLE are going to say that.

But let me ask you this: If they were so insistent that they offered help, why would I need a wheelchair if my son already has one that had been stowed under the plane during flight and waiting outside the door of the plane? Wouldn't they have learned that information when they supposedly asked me? It would seem your people's "interpretation of events" has a few holes in it, doesn't it? And if their statements are less than truthful in that area, wouldn't you have to question the validity of other statements made by them?

But don't worry. They had this to add:

We want to respond to any service problems with improvements---not excuses.

Wait... WHAT?! You're kidding, right? Because the entire response e-mail has been nothing but one long excuse.

But just to be sure we go away...:

As a gesture of apology for our delayed flight and the lack of customer service you and your family were provided, I have issued an Electronic Transportation Credit Voucher (eTCV) in the amount of $150.00 USD each.

...they'd like to pay us off! Really? You did nothing wrong, but we'd like to give you a little something anyway? A little "Thanks for Playing!" offer? Yet, according to you, you did nothing wrong!

Yeah, I feel the "gesture" we got from Deltra alright - one finger, middle.

I can tell you, our experience flying Delta Airlines with our son was horrific and disturbing. Their response to us is both insulting and shameful.

If you are disabled or travelling with someone who is disabled, DO NOT FLY DELTA AIRLINES.

[jimworcs]

Delta are utterly appalling. You do not have to book any services in advance to be treated appropriately under the Air Carriers Access Act. I hope you will also forward your complaint to the DOT. Delta have been find before due to their failure to adhere to the requirements of this act.. and are being monitored.

The attitude of their staff was however non discriminatory. Delta staff are rude and obnoxious to everyone. There is a marked difference in the attitude of Delta towards it's customers compared to other major carriers. There is a fundamental cultural problem within this airline and the only way that this will be addressed is to break their monopoly control of certain markets and for customers to stop using them. They have already gone bankrupt but sadly the government rescued them.

The response, addressing issues you never raised, is typical of Delta's attempts to cover up and obfuscate the issues. Outrageous. I would rip up those worthless discounts (they will have so many "blackouts" they will be virtually useless) and never fly them again.

[BillG]

Update - I am pursuing this incident further. I have filed complaints with the DOT and the USDOJ. It's obvious the $2 million ruling by the DOT earlier this year had no effect on them.

My hope is, in the future, disabled people including my son will be able to fly Delta Air Lines with the same amount of respect, understanding and dignity as afforded the general public, rights that are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Air Carriers Access Act part 382, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

[joegilmore]

It is and you can change it! Post your story on every complaint site that you can find. Google, "Delta complaints" and post your story in as many places as you can. Tell your friends and ask them to tell their friends. Eventually, there will be a change. Until about 4-5 years ago, this was not the case with Delta. They were the best. Sadly, not so much these days.