Well, tonight we were late out of ATL on the connection up to TYS. I arrived only 30 minutes late but that was due to the fact that we zipped out of the gate to the taxiway and when we got to the end of runway 26L we were number one for takeoff.
But the delay brought back so many flashbacks of when I used to fly Delta constantly. I am so used to Southwest now; their serious commitment to on time performance, that I just can't believe how Delta can accept being so average out of ATL.
The following happened:
Gate agent announces delay. She says it's just delayed, no time of departure mentioned. She then leaves gate and goes to the jetway, and stays.
She eventually comes back and says that there will be a flight, but she is unsure of the departure. I am convinced she is telling the truth.
I look at the window and see a super tug pulling a CRJ 900 up to the gate. Now we have to wait for the crew to board.
As we finally board, this gate agent forgets to hand out the pink valet baggage tags. Since I'm the first pax down the jetway, the flight attendent stops me at the door, as she should, saying I gotta valet check the bag. Of course by this time there are 30 others in the jetway and some of us have to back out of the door of the airplane to drop these bags off. As you can imagine, this was not fun.
Inside the hull several of us remark that we have no claim checks for the valet bags and we are concerned about this. Of course the flight attendent can do nothing.
The door is close to closing and the gate agent comes down to do the seat count that ATL is so famous for. It takes her three times walking through the cabin to get it right.
Finally the door closes and the captain comes on and says that he is sorry about the delay, and in a rare moment of truth, admits that they have no excuse for the delay at all. And he states he will not attempt to make up an excuse.
When I got to TYS, I got online and learned that this trip was operated by Pinnacle Airlines which for years has been a Northwest third party commuter. Now they are part of Delta.
I have not had my stress level rise much in the last year as I have flown almost exclusively SWA. What few times I have flown DL was through CVG or SLC where they don't have nearly the problems of their famous "WorldPort" in ATL.
And yet this one trip, after all that time, elevated my blood pressure to old familiar high levels.
The details will still matter to me, and a big legacy outfit like Delta really seems to struggle with them. Southwest makes them look like they are running amateur hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment