Disappointed with DL 176 ATL DUB Jan 22, 2103

[gizmo_sc]

I have read so much on how Delta was upgrading their fleet. I was a NR passenger DL 176 ATL DUB Jan 22, 2013. The NR listing and checkin via www.delta.com was great. It even offered me a SkyClub membership for $39.00(day pass). I took advantage of this offer and was there 3-4 hours before my departure. In the club the agent told me it was wide open. 21 FC seats and 100 coach. When we walked up to the checkin desk E7 we were greeted with where do you want to sit and ECOMONY COACH. 4 inches more legroom. I thought this was strange since the club agent said there was 21 FC seats open. So we accepted a whole row. 19DEF. which turned out to be the last row. The seat did not recline but 50%. We started looking for power ports around our seats since I got an email from Delta.com that stated all 767-300 has USB ports at every seat. Asked a FA and she said they were only in FC and they were NOT usb but power ports, if you had your own power adapter. Good thing my ipad mini has a long battery life. There was NO individual IFE and the video monitors did not work for the safety demo. It started and the FA were in position but lost when the video did not play just the audio. The immediately located their items and tried to follow along. Finally we pushed from the gate and got inline for take off. Once we started down the runway the wall behind us was making so much noise with the flexing of the aircraft. It was actually alittle nerve racking that it made so much NOISE. Even on climb it was making noise. Had I paid full ticket price for this ticket I would have really been upset. This 767-300 ( forgot to get the tail number) It has to be one of the first 767-300's that Delta accquired.
Upon landing in DUB we were early 45 min to be exact but at 0600 we had to wait for a gate. I sure hope the return flight is more enjoyable. Again I had read about all the upgrade that DL is doing and this particular aircraft must be at the end of the list or getting ready to reture. ALSO the FA were super senior I would say between the 7 of them their combined seniority was about 210 years.

 

[737823]

So you free ride on a DL flight and complain about it? NRSA is a privilege, not a right. DL delegates the newer and refurbished aircraft to certain markets like LHR, which generates substantially more revenue for the airline than DUB. Had you taken the time to research this, you would have seen this is clearly indicated on DL.com and could have taken another flight. It's also a possibility you had an equipment swap which do happen from time to time.

Josh

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Does all of your post change the fact that the revenue passengers may have had the same experience?

I think the OP was simply pointing out that DL did not provide what was advertised.

I am not sure what the F/A seniority has to do with anything unless you are looking for eye candy rather than service.

It also seems that this aircraft has IFE issues. Stuff happens, machines break. I would like to think that DL would have provided the adapters?

Also, I am not sure if one is guaranteed a F/C ride when non-revving? Is gizmo an employee?

 

[BABABOOY]

So your a Non Rev airing your complaint publicly ?

1) why not check the flight yourself? Most NR know EXACTLY where they stand on the list.....
2) why would Delta send you an email about "power ports" ?
3) Flight Attendants "tried to follow along" ? Seriously? Where they not professional?
4) Noise of Bulkhead disturbed you?
5) You landed 45 min early but waited for a gate? Did you wait 45 min? 50min? Where you still late?

After reading this, I can only conclude that your FIRST flight EVER with Delta wasn't up to your expectations.
Sorry about that... To help with your expectations , a little "Homework" before your return will help with that.

 

[WorldTraveler]

since he provided so much detail about his non-rev experience, he might find that DL has relieved him of the difficulties he might find on the return trip by cancelling the buddy pass and refunding the payment to the original form of payment.

There is a publicly accessible portion of DL's website that complains protocol for buddy pass passengers which you can find here.
http://travelinfo.delta.com/dlnonrev/TravelGuide.htm


There is comparable information on the e-tkt receipt that is issued to buddy pass riders - and can only be issued by the employee who should have provided the information to you as the buddy pass rider.

"If a pass rider encounters a problem, he or she should not argue, question or interfere with on-duty staff. Instead, report the problem to the employee for handling by his or her manager/supervisor after the travel is complete."

Let us know how the trip home goes... and if the employee who gave you the buddy passes every speaks to you again. You and the Dimwit family who published their buddy pass excursion that included begging for food in the SLC airport helps keep the number of people with pass privileges to a manageable level - and the rest of us thank you!

BTW,
DL should have provided a newly remodeled 767 on the flight if that was delta.com says the route operates with.

If you or anyone really wants to know, there is some geek on a.net who keeps a long running list of every 767 as it comes out of conversion... you can find the ship number and compare it to flightaware and other sites to verify if the aircraft has been converted before you even check in - if you check in w/ buddy passes on DL again.

Not surprisingly, DL is doing minimal repairs on the cabin of 767 aircraft prior to conversion since they are coming out of refurbs at the rate of about one per week and most of the fleet is supposed to be done by summer w/ the rest finished by the end of the year.
Also, DL does not board non-rev children below 8 in first/business... perhaps there were children in your party?

 

[Kev3188]

Does all of your post change the fact that the revenue passengers may have had the same experience?

I think the OP was simply pointing out that DL did not provide what was advertised.

Yep. They even noted that specifically.

It also seems that this aircraft has IFE issues.

The '67 seems to have a lot of reported IFE issues- at least compared to other fleet types.

5) You landed 45 min early but waited for a gate? Did you wait 45 min? 50min? Where you still late?

Admittedly, a good problem to have. Frustrating, but better than being :45 late.

Note for nothing, but there is a big push (no pun intended) to improve "wait for park" times; mainly in the hubs of course, but in the line stations as well. Can't remember the exact figure, but in MSP alone it has resulted in some significant savings.

 

[WorldTraveler]

since we're on an open forum, K, I'll reply to your comments.

There isn't a doubt that paying customers encountered the same issues... but that is not the point of what I or anyone else noted WRT non-revs, by DL protocol, are told to contact the employee who sponsors their travel if they have an issue. Employee spouses and children, buddy passes, and the whole flock are not free to air their non-rev nightmares publicly unless they want to risk having their buddy pass cancelled on the spot, leaving the rider looking for another way home - and/or having the employee's travel cancelled temporarily or permanently depending on the nature of the issue.

It is DL's benefit to offer to their employees and they call the shots how they are used. Everyone else has to agree to work within their system or risk losing the privilege. It's that at-will thing, you know.

The rest of the public can complain on any forum they want and they may or may not get a personalized response from DL... or they could just communicate w/ delta directly which would be the most productive way to deal w/ the issue. DL very much does offer compensation for inop IFE... my BIL just flew as a paying passenger on one of the longest DL flights and the IFE failed at the destination and could not be repaired and the entire flight returned w/o IFE. DL informed all of the passengers before boarding and then passed out VERY GENEROUS vouchers to everyone onboard. Well, at least those who weren't non-revs. For those who like to read or sleep, they missed nothing and got a chunk of their next flight in the bag.

But it didn't take reading too many lines into the post to realize that the OP had his eyes set on business class and not getting it was the biggest rub....

The 767 makes up about half of DL's international fleet... thus any issue is going to be disproportionately seen on that fleet type. Add in that the 767 fleet is the most actively in mods which includes a complete replacement of the IFE system and hiccups will happen. I think most people would prefer to be booked on a 767 than a 787 right now, BTW. I fly 767s as a passenger about 3-4X per year on int'l flights and haven't had an issue w/ the IFE that required rebooting the entire aircraft for years. Any int'l FA will tell you that IFE reboots of individual seats is not uncommon with any AVOD system. YMMV, for those who take int'l flights.

As for your last comment, DL has obviously decided that waiting a few minutes on the ground at destination is a better option for a certain percentage of flights than to be delayed or deploy extra resources to have layers of backup reserves waiting to handle either an IROP or for the possibility of early arrivals. If a flight gets to the gate as scheduled, there should be no difficulty getting it back on-time even if sat on the ground for 15 minutes before gating.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

I am not sure how you know that this was a buddy pass based on the OP.

Are you trying to out this person to try and penalize them for pointing out a less than superior flying experience on a Delta long haul flight?

It sounds like constructive criticism to me.

 

[BABABOOY]

The OP stated that he was a NR (non-rev) What classification of NR has yet to be determined, But NR none the less.
From someone who experiences first hand the behavior from some of our "NR's" on board the A/C,
I have a problem with this Public Post. As far as constructive criticism, as pointed out, we have proper internal channels for that.

 

[Kev3188]

I am not sure how you know that this was a buddy pass based on the OP.

We don't. It was a conclusion that was leapt to.

My $$$ is on OAL pass travel.

The OP stated that he was a NR (non-rev) What classification of NR has yet to be determined, But NR none the less.
From someone who experiences first hand the behavior from some of our "NR's" on board the A/C,
I have a problem with this Public Post. As far as constructive criticism, as pointed out, we have proper internal channels for that.

Yeah, we do. But by the same token, when you have a solid product, nothing will upset the canoe; certainly not a post on a forum like this.

 

[WorldTraveler]

Yes it was a jump in logic that it was a buddy pass... but interline travel is almost always in coach. If he is an active employee of any airline, then he understands the procedures for working through non-rev issues. A public forum is not an acceptable forum for any airline. About the only type of travel that would have allowed FC travel is DL employee related travel and that is likely laid out in the pass agreements he used. And the same is true w/ just about every carrier.

No I am not outing anyone...but he might have cooked his own goose. I am telling the OP and anyone who wants to read it that it is not smart at all to be complaining about any non-rev travel on a public forum.... it is very much DL and other airline procedure to pull travel benefits for those who don't comply w/ procedures. And as bababoy notes, DL employees can write up non-revs resulting in them facing disciplinary procedures.


If DL's product is inferior to the competition of other carriers, the market will decide and reflect the need to invest... that isn't a DL specific phenomenon. The fact that DL is investing a couple billion in new interiors says they recognize that.. but DL still managed to turn in the best financial performance of the US industry - so people are most definitely paying DL good money for the product it delivers.

 

[737823]

Make no mistake DL has a competitive product among US carriers buts its certainly nothing game changing or innovative. It's great to see the enthusiasm and comradery among DL ranks but it isn't a superior passenger experience. Sure it's superior to other US carriers like US or WN but DL can't compare to EK or LH or SQ.

With that said, all airlines change equipment and I just checked Delta.com and all the ATL-DUB flights show old 763 configuration, maybe the OP should have researched this more carefully, took another flight or purchase a ticket on another carrier. Even if it were due to an equipment swap it is not deceptive or false advertising, DL reserves the right to substitute equipment per the CofC and the website has a disclaimer advising such.

Josh

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Probably not wise to post the flight number, date, and seat assignments on here when pointing out the flaws on that flight Gizmo.

You need to be aware that there are those here that will go to any length to silence critique of Delta.

Based on the previous posts here:

"Let us know how the trip home goes... and if the employee who gave you the buddy passes every speaks to you again. You and the Dimwit family who published their buddy pass excursion that included begging for food in the SLC airport helps keep the number of people with pass privileges to a manageable level - and the rest of us thank you!"

I am quite sure you have already been reported.

Be prepared.

 

[WorldTraveler]

No, Q. Gizmo outed himself. I have and will do nothing more than reply to this thread on this forum. If he had simply complained about his trip and said nothing about being a non-rev or provided his seat number, no one would have had any reason to doubt the comments or argue against them.

The fact that he didn't think through that posting his seat assignment on a specific flight on a public forum is tantamount to signing w/ your own name provides all the evidence the company needs to do whatever they choose to do... there are hundreds of readers of this forum who have employee access to DL's res system and could find his name - I just do not happen to be one of them.

My words are to encourage him to think twice about saying what he has said before he does it again - and for others to think thru what they do BEFORE.

Again, this isn't DL only advice - it applies equally to all airlines.

I wouldn't suggest anyone give their seat number on a flight even if they are a paying passenger.

some of us understand when it is appropriate - and intelligent - to challenge the establishment and when it is not.

If it bothered him enough, he could have begged the moderators - some of whom could very well be DL employees - to modify the post - but it has been here for almost 24 hours... so perhaps they are equally as uninterested in saving his butt - or he hasn't bothered to check back and realize what he has done.

I am proud of you, Q, for finally recognizing what I said several posts above that divulging your personal information online is not real smart.... I am glad we have come to agreement on that point.

BTW, Q, how often do you use your DL pass benefits? I have met former AMFA members using DL pass benefits as part of NW's settlement. Are you one of them?

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

"BTW, Q, how often do you use your DL pass benefits? I have met former AMFA members using DL pass benefits as part of NW's settlement. Are you one of them? "

Hah.

Nice try.