Delta’s brand new Naples to Atlanta flight melted down on May 27 before even leaving Italy. Flight 279 sat on the ground for more than seven hours, and was then cancelled outright. Roughly 200 exhausted passengers were herded onto buses and driven a dozen miles to a hotel where the airline had reserved just 13 rooms.
As the buses left, passengers were left in the parking lot with their luggage – and no rooms or onward transport.
@callmemomoney Do better @delta. This is absolutely ridiculous…
- 9 a.m. passengers begin boarding Delta 279 to Atlanta
- 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. rolling mechanical delays
- 5 p.m. flight cancels, passengers told to await hotel vouhcers
- 6:30 p.m. Two buses take everyone to a suburban hotel
- 7 p.m. travelers learn only 13 rooms are available; buses take off
Most everyone on the delayed flight was then left to scramble for taxis to take them to other accommodations at their own expense. Meanwhile, a Delta spokesperson maintains that All necessary accommodations were made… including hotel, transport, and meals.” I guess the word ‘necessary’ is doing a lot of work here, though the airline acknowledges they are “looking into” why customers were left outside with no rooms or return transportation.
Each passenger should be entitled to €600 in cash compensation for a cancellation under EU261, as well as hotel, meals, and ground transportation. Receipts for taxis and out-of-pocket hotels must be reimbursed.
When Delta famously failed to live up to similar obligations in the U.K., bailiffs halted check-in at London Heathrow and threated to seize one of the airline’s planes to secure the carrier’s $3,400 debt.
I’ve written about passengers hiring private bailiffs to collect on unpaid flight delay compensation, taking credit cards from airline staff in their offices to avoid seizure and sale of the office furniture.
Bailiffs once showed up at London Luton airport, delaying a Wizz Air flight to collect a refund that was owed to a customer. It caused a flight delay, and then Wizz Air owed EU261 compensation to all of the passengers on board! Former Slovenian Star Alliance member Adria Airways once even cancelled a flight to Vienna because they expected bailiffs to seize their aircraft over an unpaid 250 euro claim – which was weird, because everyone on the cancelled flight would have been owed compensation, too.
I hate to hear it when Delta has a struggle because they are such an amazing airline. The best in the world in my opinion and I’ve flown a shit load of Airlines. Rock on Delta.
Not surprised. Won’t fly Delta again. Terrible customer service on flight from Minneapolis to Charlotte last July.
Agent should have been terminated that we had.
D-don’t
E-even
L-leave
T-the
A-airport
@Matt S–the incident you describe, where a Naples -bound flight had to divert to Rome because the aircraft type was too big to land at NAP, involved AA, not DL. It was a flight from PHL that was originally supposed to use a 787-8 (which is allowed to land at NAP) but was switched to a 787-9 (which is NOT allowed to land at NAP) at the last minute.
There ought to be lawyers specializing collect unpaid airline compensations. While they are not big payoff, but one full flight that should add up to a pretty penny. Also with airlines treating passenger like cattle calls, they are free to decide what to do to maximize profits. This is one area maybe people would be happy to pay lawyers to go after what they are entitled to according to FAA and IATA.
This incident sounds horrible to me. I suspect the EU will force Delta to pay up, big time.
That said, I suspect that a lot of the problem was where this happened. Southern Italy is beautiful, the food us amazing, and there are many reasons to visit, but in places, it feels more 3rd worldly than EU.
My worst experience with a flight delay on Delta happened at Tokyo Haneda Airport, late last year. It was a flight from HND to Seattle. We boarded (bused to a hard stand), sat there for an hour or more, and then the flight was cancelled. Upon return to the gate, we were processed by Japanese authorities through a special cancelled flight area that moved quickly, they had a plan to check duty free purchases so they could be reclaimed when the flight left, we got our checked bags back easily, a hotel voucher for an in-airport hotel we could walk to, etc. We were about 21 hours late getting home but I had no issues being reimbursed for meal expenses and we got an apology gift of 20,000 SkyMiles per person. Delta’s Japanese employees were extremely apologetic, even the next day when we checked in again. They seemed shocked when I told them they had done a good job handling the situation and that I wasn’t upset. (The captain had done a good job of explaining the mechanical issue the night before –it was a fuel pump they couldn’t start, which would have been a huge safety issue on a TPAC flight.). I love Italy but am grateful this happened in Japan and not Southern Italy.
STEVE FROM SEA, YES IT WAS DELTA!
AA HAD A DIFFERENT INCIDENT.
DELTA ABANDINED ITS CUSTOMERS!
@John–I don’t think you read or understand what I wrote.
I am not denying that this Delta incident occurred when they cancelled a flight out of NAP. I was responding to a previous comment by Matt S. Matt said that Delta had tried to send an aircraft to NAP that wasn’t capable of landing there so had to divert to FCO. THAT incident was AA, not DL.
It’s OK to blame an airline for its own problems. It is not OK to blame an airline for a different airline’s problems.
VERY COZY. I hope that no one suffers from flatulence.
The usa should do.the same .. for passenger.. seize their assets if they dont pay passenger for airline failures
Perfect for a class action lawsuit and significant damages (millions) this behaviour should be disincentivized
@Christine
Bless your heart. Pete was to busy trying to breastfeed his adopted kid instead of dealing with the supply chain crisis. Didn’t visit East Palestine Ohio after the train derailment. TDS is strong with you, seek professional help.
Delta is the new SPIRIT and I’m the one who experienced this a couple of times. $$$
It cost me a extra $524 dollars unnecessary expenses Delta Airlines is just a money Pitt for the unexpected
So many low grade comments from people who sound like amateurish travelers. Everyone on the take wanting compensation for absolutely everything! Petty and unsophisticated behavior. The rest of us have to put up with your boorish behavior in the airport and on the plane.
God help us.
Gary Leff writes, “Roughly 200 exhausted passengers were herded onto buses and driven a dozen miles to a hotel where the airline had reserved just 13 rooms.” If you do the math, that is more than 15 people to a room. Thanks Delta Air Lines for giving 200 passengers the Delta One experience. Keep climbing Delta.
Seriously Timmyboy, you must be paid by Delta or you have a lot of money invested in the stock and you’re stupid enough to believe that your lies here can have an impact on the stock price.
As a Delta lover, you were hoping the problems at EWR would stop United from continuing the beating of Delta. Now runway and tele cable at EWR are ready ahead of time, flights are going back up this coming week and your expectations are shattered into pieces. You know it and that gets on your nerves. And I’m pleased to tell you again what I’ve been telling you for more than a year now. There’s a new sheriff in town. Scott Kirby.
Do yourself a favor kid. Shut the fuck up and watch how Kirby keeps eating Bastian alive.
A typical motorcoach in Italy may be designed for 56 seated passengers (14 rows of 4 seats each.) A bus on the other hand, per definition, can carry more standing in the aisle. I’m sure that the passengers were packed in as tight as possible. No one wanted to be left behind. I have sat on the front step of a bus in Mexico for a much longer distance. I have also stood in the aisle of a bus in Thailand for several hours.
Delta needs new leadership!