Ugh, Delta, get your act together

In reply to 914Driver :

Nah, no jammies on our flight. I was talking with one woman in line who had a very put-together look: wide-brimmed hat over short, silver hair, colorful handkerchief around her neck, quilted vest. It was like a preppy take on outdoors adventure. She nailed it. 

I went for comfort but still neat: black Levis, black hoodie, Docs, OG CarDomain beanie. 

DirtyBird222 said:

 

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. 

Even in the best of times, Atlanta is a chore - no matter where you came in, your connecting flight is going to be at the opposite end.  The place is so freaking huge, you're going to be hiking for what seems like miles.

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.

So, I'm going to have to stop griping about the plane crash in X-Men First Class now?

stuart in mn said:

DirtyBird222 said:

 

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. 

Even in the best of times, Atlanta is a chore - no matter where you came in, your connecting flight is going to be at the opposite end.  The place is so freaking huge, you're going to be hiking for what seems like miles.

We once had to run about 3/4 of a mile with bags at CLT to make our connection. We were on pace for about a 7 minute mile, which was impressive for us. Barely made it too.

I recently had the absolute tightest connection, but it was seamless. Perfect.

Arrival gate wasn't available. Sat on the plane, in view of our gate, for like 35 minutes. I book tight connections on purpose, and this was no exception. By the time I got off the plane, they were boarding all groups for my connecting flight, at the gate directly across from the one I walked out of. I never broke stride, just off one jet bridge, across to the next. 

Luckily I was flying alone. My wife would have shat herself. 

The people at Delta have always been very nice and tried their best to help.  Even when sending me to Atlanta for the Icepocalypse, to Atlanta again when I was trying to get to Milwaukee to connect to an oversold plane, to Detroit instead of Milwaukee when there was no connection back, etc., etc..  For that I like them better than United and especially better than Frontier.

My best connection ever came at Atlanta.

I got off the plane and did the usual quick run to the monitors. Where next? 

My connection? The very gate that I just landed at. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

You apparently live in some weird parallel universe.  

In reply to stuart in mn :

I know, one of my crazier airline experiences. I’ve also had to run from like gate A1 to international. 

I was once stuck in Charlotte, trying to get back to JFK.  Flights were getting canceled left and right.  My daughter was pretty young - 3 or 4 - it may have been the return of her first flying trip.  She was playing with my wife at a little kid's area in the terminal while I stood in line, hoping to figure something out.  At the front of the line, the agent said "the gate next to us is leaving for Newark right now and we have 3 open seats.  Want them?"  "Yes".

Cue panicked collection of wife and daughter then sprint to the plane.  The 3 seats were scattered randomly.  My daughter surveyed the situation.  Her voice started to crack.  "I can't sit with mommy?"  You have never seen people move so fast.  I think everyone in the plane offered to move all at once.  :)

David S. Wallens said:

My best connection ever came at Atlanta.

I got off the plane and did the usual quick run to the monitors. Where next? 

My connection? The very gate that I just landed at. 

I agree.  My job has us flying 2-4x per month.  Until now, Atlanta was our home airport.  I find it easy and much better than most others.  Big?  Sure.  Difficult?  Nah.

To me, Delta is the best of all the airlines.  They're great... until they're not.  On the few occasions I've had an issue, it's been a disaster.  However thankfully it's been very few.

I've flown quite a bit, both domestic and international.  I've spent quite a lot of time in Atlanta, Philly, and the Chicago airports, which all have pretty spotty reputations... But I still think Denver is the worst.  I don't think I've ever arrived or departed on time at DIA, like ever.  And man I've had it all- airport overnights because the pilots got stuck in a traffic jam and timed out, de-icing delays, a faulty toilet system that rendered the plane inop and had do de-board and reschedule, sitting on the taxiway for hours, everything.  It's my unlucky rabbits foot of airports.  

And don't even get me started on the the amount of time it takes to get bags... I swear you take the fancy train to baggage claim, and the ground agents are using pack mules one bag at a time.  

Oh, also-  wanna rent a car?  Sure, just take the shuttle 30mins down the road and out of the airport to some desolate desert lot and grab it from a construction trailer. 

In reply to golfduke :

Totally hear you on Denver. Also, where can you sit and work there quietly without paying for the Delta lounge? Last time there, I went upstairs and sat on the floor. 

David S. Wallens said:

My best connection ever came at Atlanta.

I got off the plane and did the usual quick run to the monitors. Where next? 

My connection? The very gate that I just landed at. 

I've had this happen a few times, best layover.

Worst place to do a layover either DFW or Charlotte with American. At least DFW has trains, but Charlotte sucks ass when switching to a regional jet and going from gates A/B all the way to E!

golfduke said:

I've flown quite a bit, both domestic and international.  I've spent quite a lot of time in Atlanta, Philly, and the Chicago airports, which all have pretty spotty reputations... But I still think Denver is the worst.  

100% amen and hallelujah.  Drop the mic.  The TSA line there is the most chaotic line anywhere.  I absolutely love the Denver area and absolutely hate their airport.

Atlanta TSA have been my least favorite (most rude). They had made up rules that I've never encountered, and were enforcing them in about the same tone and manner a prison guard would use to enforce rules on inmates. 

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

golfduke said:

I've flown quite a bit, both domestic and international.  I've spent quite a lot of time in Atlanta, Philly, and the Chicago airports, which all have pretty spotty reputations... But I still think Denver is the worst.  

100% amen and hallelujah.  Drop the mic.  The TSA line there is the most chaotic line anywhere.  I absolutely love the Denver area and absolutely hate their airport.

I usually go to CO twice a year (ski and mtb).  This year we flew into colorado springs, and let me tell you-  That was a pleasant treat.  Little airport, can still get me to Southwest hubs, and I don't have to deal with the denver airport.  

I think I'll be doing this more often now.

Spearfishin said:

Atlanta TSA have been my least favorite (most rude). They had made up rules that I've never encountered, and were enforcing them in about the same tone and manner a prison guard would use to enforce rules on inmates. 

That, and during covid they had the lines plexiglassed up like something ridiculous like 10' high.  I felt like I was in one of those hamster mazes with the tubes.  I don't get claustrophobic normally, but the 50mins I had to be in that, I was clawing at the walls and freaking out a little. 

seems like they stuck the landing to me. 

Oh wait, different Delta.

In reply to golfduke :

I live 15 minutes from O'Hare, so obviously it is the airport I use most. I don't understand the hate. Done Philly a few times as well, never had an issue there. 

My least favorite that I've experienced (No Denver, thankfully) has been Orlando. I really dislike that airport. 

My favorite airports have been Escanaba Michigan and Owensboro Kentucky. I think they both get 2 flights a day. Don't bother showing up for TSA more than 15 minutes before departure, because the TSA doesn't arrive until then. 

In reply to mtn :

Lots of small airports have that going for them, always nice when you don't feel like cattle being processed. On the "little bigger" end of things, I've always had good experiences in and out of Tampa.

As a Delta customer, I've flown through ATL and MSP more times than I care to count. MSP is OK, it's just big and spread out. ATL is a pain because it's big, but also has kind of narrow concourses. For "big" airports, I'm partial to my home field, DTW, because it's big, but it's modern, easy to navigate, and has plenty of facilities distributed throughout the terminal. But if I can fly out of FNT, I always do, because small airports rock.

Worst airport I've been to is Heathrow. Huge, narrow, maze-like, very limited food options, one giant bathroom in a central location, and they don't let you go to your gate until right before your flight. There's nothing like landing after a 9 hour flight then having a 45 minute walk through various tunnels with all your bags to get to the trains.

In reply to Spearfishin :

I've also had good experiences in Tampa. The only bad part about it was that every time I flew out of Tampa it was with my friend and coworker who was born in India. Despite being an American citizen and having Global Entry, he was "randomly" selected for a search 4/4 times we flew out of that airport together.

mtn said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

I've also had good experiences in Tampa. The only bad part about it was that every time I flew out of Tampa it was with my friend and coworker who was born in India. Despite being an American citizen and having Global Entry, he was "randomly" selected for a search 4/4 times we flew out of that airport together.

I don't think my "randomly" selected searches are random either, I've gotten them a few times out of Tampa. Born in the US and travel every two months for work stuff, but didn't fly from June until this Feb and already had a Random check this past month.

Update: Slept like 9 hours last night. My first good sleep in a week. It was glorious.