11/21/10

Delta Drama #2 - Indiana to BWI

How soon I forgot my dislike of all things Delta.


I booked The Prince on a flight (with a connection) out of Ft. Wayne, IN to BWI for Thanksgiving holiday...and THAT is where the comedy of errors begins. After the his harrowing experience last night I will avoid that airline with every fiber of my being unless it is a last resort. Why?


Delta scares the shyt outta me. At The Prince's departure airport, there were not 1 but 2 planes that had "mechanical problems" and could not be flown. *Well how the fugg did they get there?* After rearranging every bodies flight, the powers that be went to some back hanger out in left field somewhere and pulled a plane outta their hat - that worked.


The Prince arrives in Detroit only to find out that his flight is delayed for...wait for it..."mechanical problems". GTFOOHWTBS. Does Delta have ONE plane that actually works and is NOT being held together with some spit & gum? Just asking. He boards and they decide that this issue is hydraulics and they gotta get off. Delta says that they are going to bring in another plane from Boston or someplace and they would be ready by 7:30 pm. The Prince had been in Detroit since 4ish. Well, 7:30 came and went and the sign on the board changes to CANCELLED.



WTF. 70 passengers are now sitting in Detroit trying to figure out how they getting to Baltimore.


We get the Prince to do some slick maneuvering to a counter person to see what is going to be done and if he can get out tonight. At the same time Princess Erin gets Delta on the phone while I look up every possible flight out of Detroit on the computer. She gets a lovely lady at Delta on the phone, who once we explained the situation was on it like stink on a dog. I found the only flight out with enough time for The Prince to make it (if he sprinted) on U.S Air. Re-booked. Rerouted. The Delta agent on the phone was two-waying us into the counter at the airport. While we were finagling this flight...The Prince somehow worked his magic and got himself a seat on a Delta flight (they pulled another plane outta left field) to BWI but there were only 8 seats left. He got one. 62 passengers had to wait till this morning. SIGH.



The Prince called us from the plane and said they were about to taxi - pick him up in 2 hours.



Now you know we didn't just settle (they might not even take off). The nice lady on the phone at Delta stayed on the phone with us until the flight actually was in the air. THEN, without us even prompting - cause I didn't know to ask - she said "Let me make sure that his return flight is still in order. He has been switched and cancelled so many times today that his return might have been cancelled." Now you want to see me on an episode of Snapped...let that mess happen. She clicked, flipped some switch, and reconfirmed his return flight.



We also logged into BWI's flight tracker and tracked that plane till it landed. No chances.



The Prince made it home 6 hours after he should have...but he made it home safe and sound.



While the Delta lady on the phone was the epitome of what customer service should be, it does not mitigate my fear of flying on a Delta plane. That is just ONE to many mechanical errors for my taste. I need for my plane to have all of is PMCS (preventive maintenance checks & services) done and be in order. They ARE NOT giving a travel warm & fuzzy.



DO BETTER. BE BETTER DELTA.