Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I have flown Delta quite a bit lately and here is my review of their service.

Since Delta took over Northwest Airlines, I believe service for Delta has been a race to the bottom. I have always had issue with Delta service because I believe the general attitude towards customers by the company is rather poor. It isn't something they come out and state but the attitude of the workers is a reflection on management. But getting beyond that I want to point out what I have observed.

You can pretty much count on Delta being late. If you book a flight with this airline don't plan on getting to where you want to go on time. I just isn't going to happen. If you do happen to get there on time then consider yourself to be lucky. I would say that in my last 5 or 6 round trips with the airline about 75% of my flights have been late. I don't mean 5 to 10 minutes late either. I am talking about 30 minutes to 90 minutes.

A few weeks ago I flew IND-ATL-MCO and I checked in early at the airport. The exit rows were empty. I asked the agent at the ticket counter if I could get an exit row. She asked if I wanted an aisle or window seat. I said either was fine but I preferred a window seat. So I get my passes and when the time came I finally boarded my flight. I look at the pass and the rep gave me a middle seat. Not just on that flight but the next flight as well. I got lucky and the people sitting in that section with me were together and wanted to switch seats. I get to Atlanta and get to the gate for my next flight and ask for help getting the seat changed while I still could. The agent rudely told me that she could not help me until a certain time before the flight departed. I managed to get the location for customer service but she seemed extremely put off by the question. I get to customer service and I get told the exit seats were all full and that they couldn't change them. I give up and go to the Delta Sky Club where I expressed my concerns to the agent working the desk there. She pulls up the flight and says there is no problem there are still seats open and moves me. At least one person with the company still cares. I have no respect for the previous two agents I had to deal with.

Another concern I have with the airline is the state/condition of the planes. One of my flights had maintenance tape on a lavatory. That one was a new one for me. Another had hydraulic fluid leaking all over one of the flaps. Now that is unnerving. Another had a short in the electrical system and the lights on one side of the cabin were dim and pulsing. Another had duct tape on the back of one of the arm rests.

Probably the biggest issue with the company is the mishandling of the bag fee situation. Ok I understand you want to get an extra $25 per bag off of your customers. Great. Then lets enforce the rules that currently exist which should keep this fair for everyone. The rule is one small carry on and a personal item such as a purse or laptop. I saw two women board in Orlando with 7 bags between the two of them. I saw a man with two big bags stacked on each other plus a laptop. Who am I kidding? There were dozens upon dozens of people on one flight alone that violated carry-on rules. I would go so far as to say 50-70% violate carry-on rules. If you expect me to pay bag fees then I expect you to enforce carry-on rules and that includes the number of items and the size of items. I expect gate agents to use the templates to check bags of questionable size and if they don't fit then charge the person $25 for the gate check. I am tired of Delta letting these people cheat the system. And what does it do? It creates an incredibly slow boarding process. Deplaning is even worse. Ever sat in the back of a full 753? Be prepared to spend 20+ minutes waiting to get off the plane.

I guess while I am pouring salt on the Delta wound I should also bring up the abuse of seat blocking for elites. If you aren't an elite and you don't book in advance be prepared to get stuck with a middle seat. Delta has blocked off a significant number of seats which leaves average travelers with terrible seat choices.

One last gripe before I move on is the problem with Delta overbooking flights. This has become a problem and one of my flights recently had 45 people flying standby.

It is a race to the bottom for Delta and they seem determined to win. How bad is it? Anyone that knows me or has been on this site for a while knows how I feel about Southwest. I can't stand the airline or its boarding procedures. Delta is so bad that I will now fly Southwest over them.

Congratulations Delta. You've become Indy's worst airline.

Member

Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 165
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Indy,

Did you like northwest more than Delta, plus northwest did not charge for bags correct or not.