Ugh, Delta, get your act together

When I booked the flight, it seemed to simple: Steamboat Springs to Atlanta and then home to Daytona Beach. Leave a little before 2:00 p.m. and get home before 10:00 p.m., last flight in for the day. Travel was scheduled for this past Saturday.

My reality: Snow falling that morning. (Steamboat, not Daytona.)

Got the text from Delta that morning: My flight out of Steamboat delayed to the point that I’d miss my connection. Okay, fine, I rescheduled to fly into Orlando. That would change my drive from 15 minutes to an hour and 15, but I’d still get home that night. 

10:30 a.m.: As scheduled, left the hotel via the bus for the airport.

Easy check in, not much of a line through security.

Got to the gate. Noticed the place is packed. No planes arriving means no planes leaving. Delta pushed my departure back an hour. It’s their only flight of the day from Steamboat to Atlanta. 

My arriving plane is eventually sent to SLC to refuel. 

Departure pushed back. I’m with two others from the same press trip. We’re all watching the apps and figuring out how/if we’ll get home that night. I accept the fact that I’m likely not. My connection into Orlando is delayed, but the math is likely not going to work. To pass time, we wait in the long line for food. Very pleasant staff. 

The gates are packed, so TSA stops letting people through. Others from our group are on the other side. We Facetime them.

Sometime in early evening, planes start to land. Much rejoicing in the terminal.

Mine arrives a little before 7:00 p.m. We need to help make this a very quick turnaround, we’re told, since the pilots and crew have almost timed out.

7:00 p.m.: We’re on the plane!

8:00 p.m. They finally turn on the engines!

8:30 p.m. We’re told that we need to de-ice.

9:00 p.m. We’re taxing! Number 1 for departure.

Once in the air: Hey, we do need to stop in Austin and pick up a different crew. One will be waiting for us. ETA for Atlanta is now 4:00 a.m. I’ll still make my connection.

Midnight: Land in Austin.

Austin airport crew: Who the heck are you guys? No one was expecting you.

Our flight crew on the P.A.: Ummmm, everyone just sit tight.

Follow-up announcement: Okay, the pilots have timed out and left the plane. The crew has put in too many hours and needs to do the same. We can’t leave you on the plane unsupervised, so you all need to get off. Agents will meet you at the gate.

Everyone gets in a long line. Like others, I open the Delta app: You’re still in Colorado, it says. Everyone gets the same message. I’m near the end of the line since I was near the back of the plane.

Food and hotel vouchers are offered. 

We all call Delta: Your estimated hold time is one hour and 47 minutes.

I text and eventually ask for a human. One will text you back, the app says. 

I get a text from Peter. We spend an hour discussing my options. Fly into Orlando? Jacksonville? The Daytona airport is next to the Speedway so I don’t want to go there on Sunday. 

Peter eventually offers to fly me from Austin to Jacksonville to Orlando. This is a plan we had never discussed. 

How about Austin to Orlando? I ask.

We don’t fly there directly. 

1:00 a.m. or so: I have a seat from Austin to Atlanta to Orlando, but I still need to see the gate agent. Everyone in lines has similar experiences. Glad I stayed in line. The app updates my itinerary but won’t issue a boarding pass. 

We’re told that all bags have been taken off the plane. Everyone will need to get their bags and recheck them. The debate: Get the bag and sleep on that side of TSA or wait and get them once TSA opens? TSA opens at 3:00 a.m. 

I have some nice people around me. Someone has a puppy. We eat the snacks provided by Delta. 

3:00 a.m. I finally see the gate agent. 

We can fly you directly to Orlando in the morning, she offers. 

Sold!

But I can’t seem to issue a boarding pass. 

A fellow gate agent calls some secret number and manages to print a boarding pass for me. 

3:15 a.m. I grab my bag. 

4:00 a.m. Finally get through ticketing and recheck my bag. Not much of a line so not sure what was up.

4:15 a.m. Get through TSA and arrive back to the gate.

5:00 a.m. Use my food voucher for breakfast. 

Flight to Orlando delayed from 9-something to 11-something due to air traffic. While waiting, I watch a kid eat a Cheerio off the floor. 

1:25 p.m. on Sunday: Finally land in Orlando. My wife picks me up and we drive home. 

My wife was flying from Charleston to Independence, MO Friday. Take-off time was 5:30 and she should have been in Independence by 3 or so to be picked up at the airport. 

Delayed in Charleston. Didn't leave here until noon. Missed her connection in Charlotte. Ended up in MO at almost 6 pm. Her ride with the rental had to leave to make their event on time so she had to catch an Uber for $100. 

 It's not just Delta. It's the entire airline industry. 

No thanks.  I'll drive.

David S. Wallens said:

...While waiting, I watch a kid eat a Cheerio off the floor...

 

 

That made me chuckle.

In reply to Spearfishin :

I knew he was going to go for it. That kid had Cheerios in his eyes. 

And everyone, except that one dude, was pleasant though the deal. In fact, we had a full conversation about him.

The Delta people were patient, too. Our agent’s shift ended at 4:00 a.m., so she wasn’t rushing to ditch us. 

My very worst flight experiences have all been Delta.  Universally.

At least with Frontier or Spirit you know you're gonna get screwed over.

My wife once spent two consecutive nights at the airport, so it could have been worse. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Two days? I thought being stuck in DFW for 6 hours was bad. Different airline, still awful. 

Flying in the winter is miserable.  I just came back from Colorado myself, and after a 2 hour delay in Colorado springs, we were smacked with a 5hr delay in Baltimore to get to NH.  I considered renting and driving, but I had the family and couldn't do that to a 5 and 7 year old...  

All Told, we got to the airport in Colorado at 7AM Mountain time, and didn't land in NH until 2:30am eastern...  17 hours either in a plane or at airports... with young, bouncy, irritable children... But I suppose at least we got home and home safely.  

Untimely thread... thankfully just injuries.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/delta-plane-crash-toronto-pearson-airport-minneapolis-st-paul-international-airport/

In reply to maschinenbau :

Yeah, just heard the news from Toronto. I’ve had my share of rough landings. You always wonder what if....

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

I knew he was going to go for it. That kid had Cheerios in his eyes. 

 

$50 says the Smails kid eats it.

In reply to maschinenbau :

It's amazing the fuselage stayed together and the entire plane didn't slide to a stop in a puddle of burning fuel.  

Delta CorvAIR, too soon?

Pretty clear video of the crash. (NSFW language) Looks like the right wing snapped on touchdown, then the lift from the left wing flipped the plane over. Pretty impressive structural integrity, shout out to Bombardier.

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

Pretty clear video of the crash. (NSFW language) Looks like the right wing snapped on touchdown, then the lift from the left wing flipped the plane over. Pretty impressive structural integrity, shout out to Bombardier.

F’ is right. 

When I traveled a lot, I had a rule about the weather.  If I arrived at a departure or layover airport and there were lines around the block due to weather, I left. 9 times out of 10, I could re-book for the following day and miss all the waiting and frustration. In Chicago, a common layover for me, I would immediately say "nope" and grab a cab to a hotel.  People who valiantly waited and tried to get our ASAP were usually on the same flight as me the next day after sleeping on the floor of the airport, starving and smelly. This required flying out the day before appointments, but I was a road warrior, so it didn't really matter. 

We discussed just staying in Steamboat for another night. Our reality: It was a holiday weekend at a small ski resort town. 

We also discussed driving to Denver, but that seemed a bit treacherous, even though we had just come from the Bridgestone Winter Driving School. That plan would also have to assume open roads and no traffic. 

So, the PS to my travel day.

Got home from Orlando around 3:00 p.m. 

Headed back to Orlando at 7:00 that evening.

Why? To see our friends Five Eight.

And then back Monday evening to see the documentary about them.

We’re not going anywhere tonight.

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:

Looks like the right wing snapped on touchdown, then the lift from the left wing flipped the plane over. Pretty impressive structural integrity...

Well, all except for that bit about the left wing snapping.

Newsies said the plane was doing a slip, that's turning the nose sideways while going straight, lets you drop down faster.   Cross winds were 25 mph gusting to 36.

 I've only been yelled at once while training, high nose on slip leads to the thing flipping over.  But lets see what the NTSB says and yes, it could have been much worse.

David, anyone show up to the terminal in their Jammies, or a jogging suit looking like they just rolled out of bed?  Hate that.

I think it's just all airlines man. 

I fly all the time and all different airlines. 

If I'm flying American through DFW, I know there's LIKELY going to be a delay, canx, or SNAFU. Weather being the primary reason. 

If I'm flying SWA through Denver, same as above. 

I've had many overnight stays and experiences similar to David's simply because weather causing a cascading effect on logistics. 

Same with Delta and anything going through Atlanta. 

Then there are their software issues that can have similar issues. I've been stuck at the Vegas airport for days because of Southwest software issues. I've been stuck in Atlanta with the Delta crowdstrike issue last year. 

The worst is when you simply get a E36 M3ty layover time at an airport like Atlanta and have to sprint from the two furthest points away in that airport to barely make your connection. 

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

Looks like the plane simply landed way too hard and it collapsed the right landing gear and broke off the right wing on touchdown. Weird that there was no attempt to slow the rate of descent.