I would like to relate to you the inconvenience experienced by myself and 240 other passengers on DL 1792 from San Diego to Atlanta on June 30th at 10:55 pm. I checked in early and saw that no gate was assigned. This did not bother me as it's happened before. But as it got closer and closer to 10 pm and I saw other flights posted that were scheduled to leave at 11 pm, it did give me pause. Finally the gate was posted and we all started moving over (there are only 4 Delta gates in San Diego).
We sat and sat, watching other flights board and leave the gate. Nothing was communicated to us and we all started talking to one another. Eventually someone came on the PA and said that our flight crew had just landed and when they arrived at the gate, in 5-10 minutes, we would start boarding. But nothing happened--we just waited and waited. Then we were told that we would board. Then we were told no. Then we were told that the flight with our crew on it did not have a gate in which to de-board so they would be coming as soon as they had a gate. By now, everyone is standing.
Eventually, we were told that San Diego has a noise ordinance prohibiting flights in or out after 11:30-- so when we could board, we would have to do it fast. The flight crew arrived and the captain said he'd called someone to get permission to take off after 11:30 without penalty, and we all could board. However, instead of an orderly boarding, all areas were let on at once-- and this was a 767 and a full flight! As we were settling in, we were told that we didn't have permission for a late departure, so we had to de-board. Everyone filed off, and milled about. We were told that the flight was rescheduled for 6:45 am and since it would go out as the same flight (except now numbered 9857) we would not need a new boarding pass --we could use the original one on July 1.
They tried to get everyone to leave the gate area, giving Sheraton passes to those who wanted to leave right away. Others they encouraged to use a red card to get information. Many of us wanted a boarding pass in hand (I'm 62 and needed that reassurance) so we waited in line. They did open several lines. When it was my turn, they rescheduled my transfer in Atlanta and gave me a new boarding pass for the San Diego/Atlanta let. The seat had changed from 13F to 31F. I was told the computer reschedules everyone. This confused me since we were told that we could use the old pass earlier. I asked how much time I would have in Atlanta to make my connection and after a lengthy pause, I was told 45 minutes. I asked if there was a terminal change, and I was told there was. I asked for a copy of my schedule since they were unable to print my boarding pass for the Atlanta /Richmond arm. She was reluctant to give it to me, but eventually did.
I was not offered any vouchers for meals so I asked for one. I received a voucher only after asking--it was not offered. It was now about 1:30 am, and we had been told to be back by 4 am, so I chose to stay in the airport (I was afraid if I fell asleep, I would not awake in time). We were then told that the baggage was on carousel 8 and we all needed to get our bags and reenter tomorrow through security. No one could stay in the gate area. This got a lot of people upset as the gate area is more comfortable, and many of us had been stranded before and could stay in the gate area with other airports. We were told this was a CSA regulation. Many guessed that the bags had never been loaded.
Every chair in the gate and baggage area was filled with people and bags, and many spent the remaining hours on the floor--including infants and small children. The employees from the gate passed through this area to punch out and go home and you might think that they would be considerate to all the stranded customers, but they were not. They spoke loudly, joked, called to one another and generally made commotion. Anyone hoping to catch a wink or two was sorely out of luck.
So we all started talking and we were all told different and conflicting things. It was apparent that it was all confusion. People were upset and everyone had a different story. The next morning, employees started arriving about 2:30 am. They went to the back and stayed there. At 4:10, the other airlines started processing their baggage passengers, so we Delta people started lining up. Needless to say, we filled the baggage queue rapidly. The Delta baggage staff did not appear until they had to and not a minute before.
Some people who had not gotten a new boarding pass were turned away at security, but some made it though. This would cause problems at the gate. Later as new boarding passes had to be generated for everyone, contrary to what we had been told. Once through security I went to get breakfast and found that the voucher would cover little. I had a bowl of oatmeal and a small coffee--and had to add money to the voucher. At 6:30, the gate had not been assigned so all 240 of us were getting very nervous. I looked at my schedule and noticed that the schedule listed our flight for 7:30 departure, yet the boarding pass clearly stated 6:45. I was scheduled to land in Atlanta at 3:00 pm, and was supposed to take off from Atlanta at 3:06 (with a terminal change).
There actually was someone at the gate (it is very hard to find a real person anywhere in the airport these days) and I wish I had gotten his name, as he actually treated me like a person. I showed him my schedule, and he looked at it and said my name (first and only person who did) and agreed that the schedule did not look likely. He kept my schedule as it was but added a later flight out of Atlanta saying that if I missed the first, I still had a confirmed seat on the later flight. He also changed my seat from row 31 to row 17 so I could get out faster.
The boarding was late and further delayed by the people still using boarding passes from last night. The gates were also having some printer problems. Once boarded, we were told by the pilot that he was sorry about the delay and that we would have a choice of peanuts, biscotti or pretzels with our free soda or coffee. We were under whelmed at best. The he came on the PA to say that due to the weather, only one runway was open and we would have to wait. Other planes around us were leaving the gate, but we were going no where. Once in queue, the pilot said we had at least an hour wait so he was turning off one engine to save gas. Once in the air, he said that we could watch movies free.
Just before we landed in Atlanta, very late, the pilot again came on to say that because most of us missed our connections, Delta would have all sorts of extra gate personnel to help us with our connections. I got off the plane and looked for the extra help. There was none. One gate agent was in the gate where we landed. Another passenger asked where the extra help was and we were told--see that board up there? Well that shows your connections. Look for your destination and it will have a gate and time. If you can't make the first one listed, go to the next, and so forth. He said this in a very rude and sarcastic manner.
I had turned on my phone only to find I had missed a call from Delta about my missed flight--the call came while I was in air and prohibited from using my phone. Ironic! I was lucky to have hour to get to the gate of my later flight. My husband called me to tell me that according to the Delta website, the plane for the Atlanta/Richmond leg originated in New Orleans and was grounded. I went to the gate to get my boarding pass and was told that I would have to be standby, that I didn't have a seat. I handed over my schedule showing confirmed, awaiting seat assignment asking him what does this mean. He took the schedule without a word and he printed something, slammed it in front of me and said, is this what you want? That threw me, but I bravely went on and asked if another plane had been found for this flight. Several others who had received calls from their relatives about this had come up behind me and they chimed in. The gate agent said he couldn't release that information. Say, what?
We did board, and I did get to Richmond however this is the worst experience I've had. I fly a lot for work (I'm Director of Human Resources) as well as pleasure and I've never seen the total lack of communication, lack of clarity or the lack of personal responsibility ownership shown by the majority of Delta employees I had contact with. I am appalled. I would like to relate to you the inconvenience experienced by myself and 240 other passengers on DL 1792 from San Diego to Atlanta on June 30th at 10:55 pm.
I checked in early, and saw that no gate was assigned. This did not bother me as it's happened before, but as it got closer and closer to 10 pm, and I saw other flights posted that were scheduled to leave at 11 pm, it did give me pause. Finally the gate was posted and we all started moving over (there are only 4 Delta gates in San Diego). We sat and sat, watching other flights board and leave the gate. Nothing was communicated to us and we all started talking to one another. Eventually someone came on the PA and said that our flight crew had just landed and when they arrived at the gate, in 5-10 minutes, we would start boarding. But nothing happened--we just waited and waited.
Then we were told that we would board. Then we were told no. Then we were told that the flight with our crew on it did not have a gate in which to de-board so they would be coming as soon as they had a gate. By now, everyone is standing. Eventually we were told that San Diego has a noise ordinance prohibiting flights in or out after 11:30--so when we could board, we would have to do it fast. The flight crew arrived and the captain said he'd called someone to get permission to take off after 11:30 without penalty, and we all could board. However, instead of an orderly boarding, all areas were let on at once--and this was a 767 and a full flight!
As we were settling in, we were told that we didn't have permission for a late departure, so we had to de-board. Everyone filed off, and milled about. We were told that the flight was rescheduled for 6:45 am and since it would go out as the same flight (except now numbered 9857) we would not need a new boarding pass--we could use the original one on July 1. They tried to get everyone to leave the gate area, giving Sheraton passes to those who wanted to leave right away. Others they encouraged to use a red card to get information. Many of us wanted a boarding pass in hand (I'm 62 and needed that reassurance) so we waited in line. They did open several lines.
When it was my turn, they rescheduled my transfer in Atlanta and gave me a new boarding pass for the San Diego/Atlanta let. The seat had changed from 13F to 31F. I was told the computer reschedules everyone. This confused me since we were told that we could use the old pass earlier. I asked how much time I would have in Atlanta to make my connection and after a lengthy pause, I was told 45 minutes. I asked if there was a terminal change, and I was told there was. I asked for a copy of my schedule since they were unable to print my boarding pass for the Atlanta /Richmond arm. She was reluctant to give it to me, but eventually did. I was not offered any vouchers for meals so I asked for one. I received a voucher only after asking--it was not offered.
It was now about 1:30 am, and we had been told to be back by 4 am, so I chose to stay in the airport (I was afraid if I fell asleep, I would not awake in time). We were then told that the baggage was on carousel 8 and we all needed to get our bags and reenter tomorrow through security. No one could stay in the gate area. This got a lot of people upset as the gate area is more comfortable, and many of us had been stranded before and could stay in the gate area with other airports. We were told this was a CSA regulation. Many guessed that the bags had never been loaded.
Every chair in the gate and baggage area was filled with people and bags, and many spent the remaining hours on the floor including infants and small children. The employees from the gate passed through this area to punch out and go home and you might think that they would be considerate to all the stranded customers, but they were not. They spoke loudly, joked, called to one another and generally made commotion. Anyone hoping to catch a wink or two was sorely out of luck. So we all started talking and we were all told different and conflicting things. It was apparent that it was all confusion. People were upset and everyone had a different story.
The next morning, employees started arriving about 2:30 am. They went to the back and stayed there. At 4:10, the other airlines started processing their baggage passengers, so we Delta people started lining up. Needless to say, we filled the baggage queue rapidly. The Delta baggage staff did not appear until they had to--and not a minute before. Some people who had not gotten a new boarding pass were turned away at security, but some made it though. This would cause problems at the gate. Later as new boarding passes had to be generated for everyone, contrary to what we had been told. Once through security I went to get breakfast and found that the voucher would cover little. I had a bowl of oatmeal and a small coffee--and had to add money to the voucher.
At 6:30, the gate had not been assigned so all 240 of us were getting very nervous. I looked at my schedule and noticed that the schedule listed our flight for 7:30 departure, yet the boarding pass clearly stated 6:45. I was scheduled to land in Atlanta at 3:00 pm, and was supposed to take off from Atlanta at 3:06 (with a terminal change). There actually was someone at the gate (it is very hard to find a real person anywhere in the airport these days) and I wish I had gotten his name, as he actually treated me like a person. I showed him my schedule, and he looked at it and said my name (first and only person who did) and agreed that the schedule did not look likely. He kept my schedule as it was but added a later flight out of Atlanta saying that if I missed the first, I still had a confirmed seat on the later flight. He also changed my seat from row 31 to row 17 so I could get out faster.
The boarding was late and further delayed by the people still using boarding passes from last night. The gates were also having some printer problems. Once boarded, we were told by the pilot that he was sorry about the delay and that we would have a choice of peanuts, biscotti or pretzels with our free soda or coffee. We were under whelmed at best. The he came on the PA to say that due to the weather, only one runway was open and we would have to wait. Other planes around us were leaving the gate, but we were going no where. Once in queue, the pilot said we had at least an hour wait so he was turning off one engine to save gas. Once in the air, he said that we could watch movies free.
Just before we landed in Atlanta, very late, the pilot again came on to say that because most of us missed our connections, Delta would have all sorts of extra gate personnel to help us with our connections. I got off the plane and looked for the extra help. There was none. One gate agent was in the gate where we landed. Another passenger asked where the extra help was and we were told--see that board up there? Well that shows your connections. Look for your destination and it will have a gate and time. If you can't make the first one listed, go to the next, and so forth. He said this in a very rude and sarcastic manner.
I had turned on my phone only to find I had missed a call from Delta about my missed flight--the call came while I was in air and prohibited from using my phone. Ironic! I was lucky to have hour to get to the gate of my later flight. My husband called me to tell me that according to the Delta website, the plane for the Atlanta/Richmond leg originated in New Orleans and was grounded. I went to the gate to get my boarding pass and was told that I would have to be standby, that I didn't have a seat. I handed over my schedule showing confirmed, awaiting seat assignment asking him what does this mean. He took the schedule without a word and he printed something, slammed it in front of me and said, is this what you want? That threw me, but I bravely went on and asked if another plane had been found for this flight. Several others who had received calls from their relatives about this had come up behind me and they chimed in. The gate agent said he couldn't release that information. Say, what?
We did board, and I did get to Richmond however this is the worst experience I've had. I fly a lot for work (I'm Director of Human Resources) as well as pleasure and I've never seen the total lack of communication, lack of clarity or the lack of personal responsibility ownership shown by the majority of Delta employees I had contact with. I am appalled.