News and notes from around the interweb:
- Great sleuthing by JT Genter, Delta claimed they didn’t cancel a single flight over Thanksgiving but it turns out that isn’t true. Delta claims they cancelled one flight but replaced it with another make-up flight, so it shouldn’t count against them. Even though the make-up flight appears to have happened 18 hours later, with most passengers already having been re-accommodated on other aircraft. Really, Delta?
- American will move its Brazilian-outsourced maintenance work to Tulsa
- American AAdvantage holiday shopping bonus
- A Delta passenger kicked, bit, and hit 3 flight attendants who were taken to the hospital on arrival in New York. Meanwhile a passenger “got his eyeglasses smashed up in the process.” She reportedly “flirted with federal agents as she left court.”
- Delta, American, and United want their government to back away from its decades-long commitment to Open Skies. South African Airways wants the same from its government, too.
- jetBlue Got Gif (HT: @AvQueenBenet)
— JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) November 27, 2017
- Air New Zealand’s Christmas Video.
DL would rather take a 12 hour plus overnight “delay” than cancel a flight. Happened to me at CLT this week.
Same impact as a cancellation but looks better because the delay stats don’t discriminate between 16 minute and 12 hour delays.
Airlines need the flexibility to “delay” or cancel flights if the passenger/aircraft combination is so out of balance that the fuel consumed to transport a nearly empty plane cannot be humanely justified. It is like a mechanical or weather delay.
In return, I expect to see lower fares acrosd the board, and reasonable seating accommodations. Customers that are rebooked should get a class upgrade, if available, on other equivalent airlines and a partial refund if delayed.
Computers and programmers can make this happen. There should not be a profit incentive for Delta to play games, fib, or exagerate without compensating the customer. Remember, airports were built with taxpayer money, not airline money. But nobody wants 5000 gallons of fuel consumed because 10 people need to get to whereever four hours sooner.
Advice for the Brazilian/US dual citizenship biting, hitting, eyeglass smashing Delta passenger… It will be difficult to get back and forth after you are placed in the no fly list. My vet, after he noticed my dog would bite, puts a muzzle on him before working on him. I guess you could fly with a muzzle and shackles. And give up the booze.
Advice for Delta… Protect the brand and limit alcohol consumption. It is illegal for minors to enter saloons, so don’t subject your customers and employees to the saloon. We just need a lift from point A to B, and don’t care about your ability to maximize revenue and finding out how much we can drink before we attack your employees.
Meh – Delta fibbing about flight cancellations and being dishonest with their Skymiles problems is nothing. What you need to be concerned about is whether their lack of honesty extends over into their aircraft maintenance records. That is what keeps this old auditor awake at night.