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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Down on Delta
ChrisCrossings · January 4, 2001

Q: What should airlines do for passengers they've inconvenienced? I know there are rules for bumping, but should there be rules or even just policies when the airline screws up?

This question comes after a weekend trip to Boston on Delta Air Lines. The outbound flight was delayed about three hours due to weather problems in Boston. Without announcing it over the PA system, the flight attendants just gave everyone who wanted them free headsets and free drinks.

Returning to Los Angeles, Delta called Sunday night to say that the Monday morning non-stop we'd been booked on for three months was cancelled due to not having an available crew and we'd been rebooked on a flight an hour later with a change of planes in Cincinnati. No food service on the first leg, a middle seat instead of an aisle seat on the second leg and a charge if we wanted to watch the movie (and I'd guess half the people on both flights were rebooked from the LA flight and many of the others from an earlier Cincinnati flight that had been cancelled.)

Should Delta have done something more for us? If so, what?

-- Tab Stone

A: Oh no, not another Delta question. My very good friends in the Delta communications department - Jackie, Clay, you readin' this? - probably think I don't like them after the slew of recent Delta columns. But that's not true.

I just don't like what their airline does.

So before I answer your question, in order to placate my friends in the Delta PR office, let me tell you what Delta did right. First, it offered vouchers and free headsets for the asking, even though technically it didn't have to. The "Act of God" clause in every airline's contract of carriage effectively means that it owes you nothing when weather, earthquakes or any other natural disaster prevents it from operating.

Also, Delta called you in Boston to let you know that your flight was cancelled. In doing so, it ensured that you didn't show up to the airport, only to find out that your flight was going nowhere. I can't tell you how often I've had to learn about the cancellation the hard way - when I got to the airport.

But, as always, Delta's screw-ups eclipse its good deeds.

Keeping the make-good drinks and headsets a secret was stupid. If you're going to authorize those perks, then you should let everyone know they're available. Don't wait for someone to demand them. Since I wasn't on your flight, I don't know who authorized the bonuses, but I can tell you that the "squeaky wheel" philosophy of parceling out free drinks and headsets only to the complainers is silly and can actually embitter more passengers than it appeases.

That's nothing compared with the labor trouble that Delta has suffered during the last few months - deservedly so, to hear some of its critics talk about it. Again, it's difficult to say when the call was made to cancel your flight. Did the carrier know about it weeks in advance? Days? My educated guess is that it knew well before you got the call.

Could it have done something to prevent it? Absolutely. Labor troubles invariably boil down to one issue: money. Management wants to keep more of it; the unions want it to share the wealth. Both sides think the other side is being greedy, but only one side is right. I think you know from reading my previous columns who I think is correct, but I'll leave that for you to figure out.

At any rate, Delta did what it had to. But it could have done more.

It could have offered all passengers compensation instead of waiting for the complaints. And it could have managed its business fairly and efficiently in the first place rather than allowing avarice and bureaucracy to define its antiquated management style.

Christopher Elliott's column appears on Thursdays. All e-mailed questions to ChrisCrossings become property of Ticked.com and may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. You may reach Elliott at chris@ticked.com. Or visit his home page at http://www.elliott.org.