Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272416,00.html

Interested in your views. Being in Atlanta mostly have to travel Delta to where I go for work. They suck... My 2 cents :-

Prices have gone up 2 fold in 18 months - service has gone down. Way down. the food was always bad now it's non-existent or a "snack".

I often have to pay full fare which means $700-$1500 return because of my travel schedule. Prices seem to have gone up for direct flights 2-3 fold !!

The seats are so uncomfortable and the plane is not probably cleaned - it's sometimes "horrible". More often there only be 2 people working in a plane full of 200 people.

the staff though are more often than not, quite pleasant. Some staff are just plain rude but that is true everywhere now!

All of this is OK BUT THAT IS WHY DELTA IS ON OR NEAR THE BOTTOM - I'd do anything NOT to have to fly DELTA.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

Why not Airtran?:confused:

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

I feel your pain :mad:
I used to live in Atlanta and flew Delta alot too.
I flew to the Uk with them 2 years ago from Wilmington NC and they were able to make me miss my connecting ATL flight to the UK, no hotel allowance, and rude customer service reps that could not give a toss. Crap food, no comp drinks for the long haul.
I flew with them again mistakenly again this year to UK, as the flight was cheapest at time.
On my return flight thru ATL I was delayed for 4 hours, was able to get on standby 2 hours earlier.
Got on the plane was in my seat and then the ticketing agent came on board asked me to leave as he had made a mistake giving me the seat and the plane also did not know if the luggage to fuel ratio was OK to get them to Wilmington?:blink:

I was so furious, jet lagged and will never fly Delta again :curse:
That said in years past they seemed ok but IMO gone straight to shite in the last few years. Service just horrific and zero customer service.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

Today they are starting a review to see where the new airport should be built as ATL is going to run out of capacity in the next decade.
Hopefully we get a low cost carrier like Southwest who may be attracted by a cheaper alternative, having said that if its going to take 10 years to build a new airport, they should decide it on Dobbins which must be capable and seems under utilized of late, plus its on the growing side of town.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

about 8months ago Delta managed to LOSE my mum on a flight from UK->LAX... she's disabled, requires a wheelchair for long distances... we arranged everything with DELTA for her to be taken directly from one plane to the other for her connection at ATL...

she never turned up at LAX... many calls later and we found out they had "forgotten" to pick her up at her from her first flight and she'd missed her connection because no one could understand her (yorkshire + no teeth) she was having trouble getting help.

she ended up being about 5 hours late into LAX.

it gets better - on the return flight, again connecting at ATL they cancelled the flight... no warning, nothing... my mum ended up stuck in ATL for 24 hours with no money.

we'll never use DELTA again.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

:eek: :eek: I think I'll chance South African Airways back home instead of Delta for my next trip :eek: :eek: :eek:

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

How about Globespan checkit out on the "mapleleaf" Canada site

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

Sounds like I should give my MIL a Delta ticket to wherever for her birthday..... :D

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

There utterly shite and so inept, it's amazing :lol:

the in-laws just got back from a 30 yr anniversary cruise, had to fly down to miami, and delta had them flying to another destination, even though they had the ticket to show them and had confirmed the flight...also on the connecting flight, they changed gate about 5 times, and both flights were seriously delayed for various reasons, one was for major mechanical problems with the plane, including an aborted take off because something fell off the wing :D

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

I flew with Airtran to Colorado last week and NYC in March and had no probs. I flew with Delta 6 years ago when I came to the US and they were good back then but it was before their probs. BA on the other hand have always been shite.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

my daughter went on SAA to JHBG, and there was no pre-ordered vegetarian meal for her. someone on the plane told her they had seen the flight crew eating it!

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

That doesn't surprise me. My niece's hubby flew back to JHB from London and when he picked up his luggage, he was aware that it was heavier than normal. He opened it to find that they had emptied the contents and filled the case with rocks. :mad: Of course nobody had a clue as to what had happened to his luggage after checking it in. ;) Once upon a time, they were a first class carrier.:(

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

He's not an Afrikaner by any chance? :rofl: :rofl: :o :o

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

Actually, I'm more worried about the fact that the airplanes are not being maintained than about a meal.

I fly via Europe whenever I fly out there anyway. Get to break my journey by seeing family and ensure that I fly a first class airline.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

I fly to the UK every year for more than 30 years, no probs with either BA or Virgin. I flew Delta ONCE, can't temember where I was going but never used them again! I am flying Jet Blue to Clifornia next week, lol with all their recent problems we will see how that goes.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

after many flights with delta NEVER AGAIN!!!! It is one of the dirtiest planes i have ever been on!!! Service i found was ok, but the planes... i was in a seat with the cushion wobbley for 8 hours.. it was disgusting!!!

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

We flew Delta to Cancun during Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Flight down was perfectly fine, (oh, except it should have been cancelled, as a *****ing hurricane was coming in!), but trying to get us out afterwards was a massive cluster *****.

It took us 4 days before we got a flight back to the states, we were lucky enough our hotel let us stay in our flooded room with no power or drinking water. There were people staying in the park. When we finally got to the airport, they were only putting *one* flight on a day, 190 seats!

You find out how they really are during an emergency case like that. Never again. And don't get me started on Expedia :thumbdown:

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

They are useless. They left my daughters friend utterly stranded at JFK. She was flying to see us (from the UK) and was an unaccompanied minor but that counted for nothing with Delta.
They thought that an 18 hour wait ...over night and alone in the airport was fine. She couldn't leave the airport because she was an UM but no-one was able to stay with her...but never mind, Delta felt she would be safe within the confines of the airport.

We found another flight for her with Jet Blue, raised utter hell with Delta, all to no avail. In the end the rep from Jet Blue went and found her and took charge of everything.

US Airways are strong contenders for the title of most useless airline and may knock Delta off the top spot...watch this space.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

ROcks of what - Crack ? :beer:

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

Flown Delta to Atlanta from Edinburgh and back twice in the last 3 months, once with a return to Birmingham, AL added in too, and it has been fine each time. Better than fine actually, the four transatlantic flights all came in early, food was good and the attendents friendly.

The above stories are all horrible though.

Lucky so far I guess, but its a great route - saves changing in London or further North in America to get to the South. Long may my luck continue.

However, Virgin were crap in every way, especially the seats on my trip to Australia so they are on my "NEVER AGAIN" list.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

funny that, because everytime I've flown Virgin, they were top notch, to the US, to Japan etc

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

I love Delta, used them every trip to the UK and back. Planes are always clean, staff polite and helpful. I've had worse experiences with US Airways and American Airlines than Delta. I always fly ATL > Manchester.

I'd love to fly BA or Virgin but have always found them to be expensive to the point of silliness and they don't seem to do routes from ATL > Manchester, it's always to Gatwich or London Heathrow and given I'm visiting Leeds on trips, those destinations aren't the best. No, Delta is great for me, always has been and I'll continue to use them until a cheaper/better option that gets me from Huntsville to Leeds comes along.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

Yeah, funny how it goes. This plane was awful - the seat stands had large boxes round them where the seats went into the floor with a massive negative effect on foot room. Flew Virgin Blue in Australia from Sydney to Melbourne - far more space.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

I think a lot of it depends on which route you go, BA generally are really good, but there are some routes I wouldn't want to take, because they dump all the shite planes on the routes they don't fly often or don't make the money...that said, they make all their money on the 20 odd first class flights, that and cargo, so they aren't to worried about the cattle class :lol:

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

I've always flown BA, mainly because they're one of only 2 airlines that fly daily from Detroit to London, and they're usually cheaper than Northwest. Plus, my family members who've flown with both seem to prefer BA. The last trip with them was especially nice, as they're upgrading the entertainment in all the cabins to VOD (Video On Demand), Starting with their fleet of Boeing 767's, which just happen to be what they use on the DTW-LHR route.
The food was pretty good as well, although it seems that with BA you either get a fantastic meal, or a bloody awful meal.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

My family is also forced to use Delta, and for an airline that flies internationally, I was amazed how inept they were. Granted, I flew with them for years without too much hassle, but then the kid came:-

(Flying from Gatwick to Atlanta with no husband and an 8-month old)

Delta: Car seats must be FAA approved.

Me: But I live in England. The FAA doesn't exist here. Can you give me the guidelines I need to follow when using a foreign car seat?

Delta (Irish woman in Delta's London office): The car seat must be FAA approved. If you have any questions contact the TSA.

Me: So what are non-Americans expected to use when flying out with infants? Are they all expected to call the TSA?

Delta: At worst you'll have to hold your daughter for 13 hours.

=====================

Me: I need a miniscule amount of hot water to add to my baby's bottle so her milk won't be ice cold. Can you assure me hot water will be provided?

(Me knowing providing hot water could raise issues of liability.)

Delta: Uh....

Delta: Uhh........ we will leave that to the crew's discretion.

In the end I brought a ridiculous amount of food for my kid because I couldn't get a straight answer from Delta, over the phone or in person from the Gatwick personnel. I brought hot water in a thermos also, because I had no idea how daughter would react to being on a plane. Figured warmer milk would soothe her.

The bag I had to bring was so heavy, it left a deep purple groove in my shoulder that took days to go away.

=====================

(Flying back into Gatwick)

Oldies on plane: Mr Steward, will you please arrange passage on one of those motorized thingamagigs so we don't have to schlep all the way to immigration?

Mr Steward: Oh certainly. Just stay on the plane after everyone else gets off, and there will be a cart waiting for you.

Me: I have a small baby, a heavy ass bag and a heavy car seat. Can I get a ride too?

Mr Steward: Yes, just depart the plane last and you'll be fine.

Us: We walk off the plane and attempt to get on the carts.

Cart driver: No babies allowed on my wheelie cart, lady.

=====================

I put kid in car seat and dragged the car seat on the floor while carrying the heavy bag. Took us 45 minutes to get to immigration. No one stopped and offered to help.

=====================

This happened in June 2006. I was initially excited about flying home. I was naive into thinking I could be armed with the proper information needed to fly with an infant. With proper planning everything should have been ok. Unfortunately no Delta employee on either side of the pond was willing and able to give me definitive information on what to expect and what (services) they were willing to provide.

Every time I think of it it still makes my blood boil. :curse:

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

You poor thing. From experience with my little ones, now mind, this was a few years ago, BA are the best and well worth the price when it comes to small children/babies. They really used to go out of their way to help the parents.

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

My frustration really lies with not being able to get a concise answer from any Delta employee. It's fine if they don't want to provide hot water, and it's ok if they can't guarantee me a fruit plate on the journey (ordered to and fro but not delivered or acknowledged each time). But tell me clearly what's going to be provided so I can bring along my own bag 'o tricks.

Honestly, I couldn't have done anymore than I did to adequately prepare for that trip.

:beer: But hey, I'm having a strong whiskey and coke now so all is right with the world!

Re: Delta Airlines - one of the worst?
 

What are expedia meant to do - they are basically a booking agent - they don't own any planes of their own :confused: