delta air lines

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Updates To The Main Delta Sky Club In Detroit

by Gary Leff on June 30, 2022

Jun 30 2022

A correspondent shares that the renovations to the kitchen at the main Delta Sky Club in DTW has been completed, and that it features mostly new furniture with dividers designed to offer privacy. There’s also now outlets at nearly every seat “though some aren’t yet operational.” The four cubicles remain for now [as they do in Cincinnati], although cubicles aren’t part of the latest Sky Club design concepts. …The comfortable adjustable office chairs in each cubicle have been replaced by regular chairs that aren’t suitable for desks…the coat/jacket hooks at each cubicle were removed.. Still no snazzy phone booths or pods, as we’re seeing at other newly built or recently renovated lounges in the Sky Club system. Also, the bar is still the temporary staffed bar with only complimentary booze. No premium drinks here, which…

Seven Year Airline Drama At Dallas Love Field Settles With Government Subsidies For Delta

by Gary Leff on June 23, 2022

Jun 23 2022

After a number of gate leases Southwest Airlines had 18 of the airport’s 20 gates. Alaska Airlines had 2. And Delta found themselves without a gate in the game of musical airport chairs.

However the Department of Transportation said that the City of Dallas had to continue to accommodate Delta at Love Field even though it had no gates to do so, couldn’t legally build more, and Southwest had a valid lease for the gate Delta was using. Everyone wound up in court.

The FAA threated to issue a determination that the City of Dallas was in noncompliance with its Federal grant obligations in the operation of Dallas Love Field, making them ineligible for FAA grant funds.

Everyone wound up in Court.

Delta Has Effectively Eliminated Business Class Upgrades, Charges Up To One Million Miles

by Gary Leff on June 20, 2022

Jun 20 2022

Delta eliminated traditional mileage upgrades in 2019, and they no longer let top tier elite members upgrade paid coach tickets to business class. Upgrades with miles can now cost as much as one million miles roundtrip.

Get The New Boeing 747 Credit Card But Don’t Expect To Use Delta Lounges

by Gary Leff on June 19, 2022

Jun 19 2022

Delta’s Sky Clubs have been packed. Not only are they limiting club use to within 3 hours of flight departure (with one executive declaring Sky Clubs ‘aren’t a WeWork’) they’re testing fast track priority lanes for top tier elites to skip the queue to get into lounges.

I love the look of their new premium credit card design, but as far as their lounges go, when everyone has access nobody does.

Delta Testing Fast Track Lanes For Top Elites To Enter Airport Lounges

by Gary Leff on June 8, 2022

Jun 08 2022

Delta once said ‘if everyone’s elite, nobody is.’ But if everyone has lounge access, nobody does. To mitigate overcrowding Delta and American Express worked on getting Delta premium card customers access to (also overcrowded) Centurion lounges, and to build Centurion lounges in some Delta terminals.

That hasn’t solved crowding because more people have access, and are trying to use the lounge, than there’s space. That can mean lines to get in – a wait list.

Delta: Your Estimated Wait Time For An Agent Is 704 Minutes

by Gary Leff on June 7, 2022

older gentleman taking a selfie with smartphone

Jun 07 2022

Some people suggest messaging Delta rather than calling when it’s impossible to get through but that can be just as futile, as one passenger who took to social media explained after being told of a more than 11 hour wait time to connect with an agent.

As Delta’s Operation Melts Down, Their Social Media Team Loses It

by Gary Leff on May 29, 2022

May 29 2022

The once-stellar reputation of Delta Air Lines is falling as its operational reliability fades. After melting down last weekend, they’re doing the same thing again.

And Delta’s social media has had it with passengers and their impatience.

A Loss Of Reliability Has Far-Reaching Implications For Delta – And American Express

by Gary Leff on May 26, 2022

May 26 2022

Delta Air Lines used to have a reputation for almost never cancelling a mainline flight. Their unique selling proposition was their reliability. They accomplished this with a fleet of generally older aircraft, and built a maintenance capability so effective that it became a profit center.

Reliability isn’t a new problem for Delta, in fact Delta was first to begin having operational meltdowns in the Covid world. But as the halo wears off the wheels could begin to fall off of the SkyMiles program and have implications far beyond Delta too.

Warning: Delta Cancelling Flights In Advance, To Reduce Cancellations On Day Of Travel

by Gary Leff on May 26, 2022

May 26 2022

Last weekend the Delta Air Lines operation melted down. On Monday they cancelled 10% of their flights, and that’s with a bias towards delays – even overnight delays – to keep from running up their cancel statistics. They delayed many flights on top of this. Beset by confusion they even assigned a pilot to fly a Boeing 757 to Hawaii who wasn’t qualified to do so.

Now they’re cancelling more flights in advance, in order to reduce cancellations on the day of travel. And they’re starting now – for this weekend.

Delta Flight Delays 17 Hours Because The Pilot Wasn’t Qualified To Fly The Aircraft

by Gary Leff on May 25, 2022

May 25 2022

Saturday’s Delta flight from Seattle to Kona, Hawaii – Delta 565 – was delayed over 9 hours and then – as the flight boarded – the airline realized that one of the pilots was not qualified to operate the flight, as relayed to passengers by the gate agent. It took an overnight – another 8 hours – before passengers were able to fly.