The news today that struck a chord with me was Delta Airlines charging returning soldiers from Afghanistan over $2800 in fourth bag charges. This is an outrage and later in the day, the company decided to change its policy so that four bags now can be shipped by military personnel and not pay an extra charge. Why limit it to four?
This is a continuation of the policies (this was before Delta and Northwest merged) that were in force several years ago when a major snowstorm hit Detroit. Planes sat on the runway for up to 9 hours. Toilets overflowed, no food was left and passengers were threatened with jail if they stood up. No one at the airport would make a decision to move planes out of the gates and allow the waiting aircraft to unload. It was not until one of the pilots summoned the guts to call the Chairman of the Board and tell him about their dilemma. Of course, things really moved then.
After today's experience, I am convinced that Delta (and Northwest before) is a top-down management company and those in the lower rungs are afraid to make a decision that upper levels might disapprove as it might mean their termination. Why did it take a video posted to the Internet to get action. Why could the gate agent's supervisor not make that decision? Seems pretty obvious to me.
If Delta did not have the majority of flights from Detroit, I would avoid them totally. However, instead of letting the market control the number of gates available for different companies, the FAA controls it. Once again government strikes to restrict our choices.
I would like all of us to write Delta and ask them to remove all bag limits for military service personnel travelling on active duty. This is the least that the company could do to honor those Americans who are serving in our Armed Forces.
This is a continuation of the policies (this was before Delta and Northwest merged) that were in force several years ago when a major snowstorm hit Detroit. Planes sat on the runway for up to 9 hours. Toilets overflowed, no food was left and passengers were threatened with jail if they stood up. No one at the airport would make a decision to move planes out of the gates and allow the waiting aircraft to unload. It was not until one of the pilots summoned the guts to call the Chairman of the Board and tell him about their dilemma. Of course, things really moved then.
After today's experience, I am convinced that Delta (and Northwest before) is a top-down management company and those in the lower rungs are afraid to make a decision that upper levels might disapprove as it might mean their termination. Why did it take a video posted to the Internet to get action. Why could the gate agent's supervisor not make that decision? Seems pretty obvious to me.
If Delta did not have the majority of flights from Detroit, I would avoid them totally. However, instead of letting the market control the number of gates available for different companies, the FAA controls it. Once again government strikes to restrict our choices.
I would like all of us to write Delta and ask them to remove all bag limits for military service personnel travelling on active duty. This is the least that the company could do to honor those Americans who are serving in our Armed Forces.
That is absolutely ridiculous. I knew there was a reason I hated Delta.
ReplyDeleteWhy work politics into this conversation, when it was a private sector mishap.
ReplyDelete"If Delta did not have the majority of flights from Detroit, I would avoid them totally. However, instead of letting the market control the number of gates available for different companies, the FAA controls it. Once again government strikes to restrict our choices."
The problem with the economy today is that a vsst majority of the economy is controlled by the government. Yes, this was a major screwup by an airline who is unfeeling and not compassionate. However, my point was that if the airlines were not so controlled by the government the market forces would force such a company out of business. At this time, Delta contols the Detroit Market due to the number of gates it has which are arbritarily set by the FAA.
ReplyDeleteIf airline "B" wanted to come here, they could not unless they bought gates from some airline, such as Delta. Do you really think that Delta would invite competition? Hardly.
I get your point about it being a private sector issue with the baggage, but I felt there was more to the story.
Thanks for your comments, I appreciate them.