Tag Archives for delta air lines.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian has approached the U.S. Attorney General seeking to put unruly passengers on a terrorist list that would deny future travel across all airlines. This is mostly for show, but anyone concerned with civil liberties should e-mail Ed Bastian.
Delta is testing free checked bags. They are “sending texts to passengers departing from its Boston (BOS) hub the day of their flight, urging them to check their carry-on bag … for free.”
The month-long test began this week.
The young girl has been battling a rare soft tissue cancer for a year. She and her family flew Delta to Orlando. It was her first-ever flight. She got to visit the cockpit, had a celebration at her seat. And she was crowned at the gate. Now that she’s in remission she’ll probably be a loyal Delta customer for years to come.
In the fictional book Up in the Air Great West Airlines counted all miles towards lifetime status and Ryan Bingham was on a quest for 1 million miles. He was being tracked by the airline along his quest and they celebrated his achievement when he reached it.
In the film version, George Clooney’s Bingham was an American Airlines flyer and on a quest for 10 million miles. Here he describes that when you hit 10 million “lifetime executive status, you get to meet the chief pilot Maynard Finch, and they put your name on the side of a plane.” Sadly none of that is true, but celebration moments do happen.
There’s some eco-friendliness in the move, along with a drive to making pandemic cost cuts permanent. Whether customers enjoy the new amenities or not is what’s ultimately key. The wine in can they’ve selected may be perfectly fine compared to what’s usually served in domestic premium cabins, but I’d rather have wine selected on the basis of its quality and drinkability in the air than on the basis of packaging.
On January 7 a passenger on board Delta flight 45 from Dublin to New York JFK reportedly refused to wear a mask. According to an indictment he also “threw an empty beverage can, which hit the head of” another passenger.
While the captain was out of the cockpit he took off his cap and placed it on the captain’s head twice, and put his fist up to the captain’s face. The man left economy for business class, complained about his food to one of the flight attendants there – and mooned them.
Delta Air Lines does not currently have upgraded lounges for international business class passengers the way that United and American do (though their Sky Clubs are nicer than United Clubs and Admirals Clubs). However that’s about to change.
In addition to plans for a Delta One business class lounge in Los Angeles and at New York JFK, which I’ve previously reported, there are plans for one in Detroit as well.
Robert DeNiro is suing his former assistant-turned-Vice President of Production and Finance for misappropriating company funds, including using the corporate Amex for personal trips – and for stealing his 7 million Delta SkyMiles.
For years my favorite workaround was to dial Singapore reservations, using an internet calling app to avoid high rates. You’d get an English-speaking agent, and the hold times wouldn’t be bad at all most of the time. When U.S. flights were melting down, people call U.S. reservations – not foreign call centers.
Unfortunately you no longer get routed into a separate phone queue by ringing up Singapore. That is no longer a ‘trick’ to avoid the long hold times of the U.S. phone number for Delta.
A disabled woman flew from Atlanta to Phoenix to spend Christmas with her daughter, but when she got in a wheelchair on the jetbridge in Phoenix after arriving, she was just left there. About 20 minutes later the last crewmember off the aircraft pushed her up to the gate finally, and left here there. Where she waited, and waited. And since it was the last flight of the night there, employees – who saw her there – just turned out the lights and left.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
