Delta Airlines Review

Overall Rating

Delta Airlines Flight: Aruba to Atlanta to New York City (Flight 1798)

I would consider myself a fairly seasoned international and domestic traveler flying economy, premium/business, and first/upper class at different times. Put it this way I traveled enough to have to have extra pages added to my passport. When traveling internationally I usually opt for an international airline (the service is just simply far superior) when traveling overseas. But on a recent trip I allowed a destination wedding travel agent to make my travel arrangements for my mother, my ex-husband (who is handicapped and in a wheelchair and is also British) and myself. I wasn't expecting much but a seat and transportation fit for a Fed Ex package but I have to say that even with my low expectations Delta managed to lower them even more. Forget the standard and almost comical changing/canceling of the flights, rude and despondent staff (80%), sometimes you get a blanket and sometimes you don't, sometimes you have to pay for the earphones and sometimes you don't, the virtually near zero food and beverage service and the extreme differences between first class and economy (Does anyone else see something wrong with serving full meals to one class with the curtain open while economy class is served a non-alcohol beverage with a single tiny bag of either peanuts, pretzels, or Delta's signature cookie?). This was all the source of some pretty good laughs. Where it all started to go horribly wrong was when my ex-husband fell straight back going up a ramp because the airline turned up the safety wheels on his wheelchair and failed to put them down. Fast forward to the return flight from Aruba to Atlanta (layover) to New York where service went from acceptable to bad to worst. Here are the key points: Stupid but acceptable: Only 1 guest could accompany a wheelchair through customs (which meant the attendant who was pushing the wheelchair had to wait for the 3rd person to get through customs). Bad: The Delta lounge never announced the flight was boarding nor that the gate was changed (again) at the last minute. Although they did manage to make an important announcement to remind everyone that outside food and beverages were not allowed in the lounge area even though they didn't offer any, unless you
count carrots and peanuts. This was apparently prompted because a gentleman was sneaking some bites of his sandwich and my ex-husband was eating a chocolate bar. My ex-husband went into a restroom while my mother and I continued to the original gate. Once we figured out the gate had changed we had to find my ex-husband but weren't sure which restroom he went into. So, I stopped at the lounge again and asked them to call the terminal and tell them that we were on our way and that we had a passenger in a wheelchair. Then I stopped at another Delta gate and asked the attendants to make an announcement over the intercom system for my ex-husband to tell him that the gate had changed. No such announcement was ever made. Worst: When my mother and I got to the gate they told us they were about to close the door and asked us if we wanted to go on without my ex-husband (did I mention he was in a wheelchair?). Also, it is against FAA regulations for a plane to take off with a passengers luggage without the assenger. Btw, there were 3 other passengers also checking in at the gate. My ex-husband and another passenger finally made it to the terminal and we got on the plane. My ex-husband was put in the bulk-head (which is correctly reserved for people with disabilities) as my mother and I proceeded to our seats only to find that a woman was sitting in one of our seats. We asked her to move but she wouldn't. Then the attendant told us to find different seats (they were few and far between plus there were 3 people behind us who hadn't sat down yet so we had no idea where to go). So, we moved to the back of the plane to let everyone sit down (the rows are only wide enough for 1 person) and let the attendants work out our seating arrangements. Another attendant seemed to be looking for seats saw us standing in the back waiting then turned around and walked away leaving us standing there. Another attendant came back and told us to sit anywhere and gave us attitude as if it was our fault that we didn't have seats (they couldn't find seats but they wanted us to find them?). We felt like we were on a greyhound bus. Finally, another attendant came back and told my mother to sit next to the women who was sitting in my ticketed seat and he brought me to another seat. It wasn't the best arrangement but at least he took charge and gave us some guidance. Then the attendants make an announcement that we are going to be delayed a bit longer because they were putting the luggage on the plane for an extra 10 passengers who were waiting on standby and apparently were put in first class because I never saw them board the plane. I took the spare time to go up to my ex-husband and hand him his book and water. One of the attendants then came up to me with a reprimanding attitude and told me to sit down because I was delaying the flight. Didn't they just make an announcement saying we were waiting for the other 10 passenger's luggage? The door wasn't even shut. I sat down fuming and this attendant came up to me again to give me an earful which I did not take lightly. I told them this situation was completely unacceptable and that they should have come up with a solution for this problem. So, they asked the gentleman next to me if he would switch with my mother. He was more than amiable. But the attendant continued to belittle me in front of everyone telling me how they had work to do, etc. So, I told them to go do what she had to do and once we are up in the air my mother and the gentlemen next to me can switch. Once we were up in the air mother and the gentleman switched seats and my ex-husband reminded the attendant (who by this time removed jacket which had the name on it) that it is an FAA regulation that everyone must be seated in their assigned seat during take off in case the plane crashes. Apparently, the attendant wasn't aware of this rule. While we are talking about safety, I'd also like to mention that the emergency exit was blocked with two rows of apparently removable chairs. The attendants told the non-speaking passengers in the seats what they had to do in case of an emergency. They all blankly nodded "okay." Is this the new acceptable safety standard? Perhaps Delta should spend a little less on advertising and put their money where their mouth should be. I'm do not believe that the "customer is always right" but sometimes companies seriously get it wrong and they should not only apologize they should make some effort to make it right.