Delta Came Through When It Really Counted
Written: Feb 24 '08 (Updated Feb 24 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Professional service, good food, "Long Haul Packet", clean aircraft fleet.
Cons: Zone boarding is a weak concept, $5 for beer is too expensive.
The Bottom Line: Delta remains one of the top airlines for a reason. Service is excellent. Make them a definite choice for your travel needs.
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| cuculuain's Full Review: Delta Air Lines |
The ability of a company to take care of its clients in spite of conditions beyond their control is the acme of service. So it was during my most recent business trip—an inter-continental voyage from Europe to the United States, by way of Delta Airlines. Outbound was beautiful. However, weather and machine conspired to derail my return. The details, and how Delta responded, follow below.
Check-In, Boarding, and Departure
I arrived at Delta’s check-in counter a full two hours before flight time. This was wise, this time, since the queue was already lengthy, and the staff was in full presence on the floor. The first stop was an advance station for passport and baggage checks. The staff person who helped me was fast and courteous. Word of advice here—have your documents ready and know when you are returning and the reasons you are traveling to the States, you’ll be asked. After a few moments I was passed on to the counter agent, who was a nice middle-aged lady and good English speaker. She noticed that my seat was all the way in the rear of the aircraft and I had barely an hour in Atlanta to connect with my follow-on flight to Tampa. Luckily, the flight wasn’t full, so she moved me 18 rows forward in the main cabin just to give me a little extra time! Needless to say I would come to appreciate her efforts ten hours later.
Boarding our Boeing 767 was very fast and efficient. Delta boards by zones, which is a good idea in of itself, even though I feel the industry’s queuing theory is flawed—“window, middle, aisle” makes the most sense to me. Zone Boarding is something no airline seems to do very well, and Delta is no exception. I was most impressed, though, with the seating arrangement on board, which, in the main cabin was a generous two-by-three-by-two. It left the impression that Delta was more interested in passenger comfort than packing the aircraft full. Leg room was adequate and all seats were upholstered in well-cushioned leather. Our flight boarded without incident and departed on time.
Impressions of In-Flight Service
One of the first things I noticed during flight was that the majority of the flight staff was bi-lingual. I’ve been on other airlines where there are maybe only one or two staff members who speak the local language as well as English, and they are left carrying the communications load throughout the flight. Not so my particular voyage. Of course, your trip experiences may vary. Not long after ascent, our staff was in the cabin aisles, offering a large variety of both English and German newspapers, as well as small “convenience packages”. Marked “For the Long Haul” each contained a free pair of headphones, as well as a toothbrush and toothpaste, sleep mask, foam earplugs, and a small bottle of moisturizing lotion. Most of the products, including the toothbrush and overall packaging, were made of recyclable materials. I thought this was a really nice perk and a good idea that was long overdue.
Delta offers both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in their carts. Although standard across most airlines, they are one of the few which gives passengers a larger cup and are often more obliged to give you the entire can of soda if you so desire. Beer, wine and spirits are available to those 21 and over for $5. Additionally, Delta is now offering a small line of pre-mixed designer cocktails, like Mojito, and Cosmopolitan, for the same price.
Travel Tip: If you on a budget and only want one drink, wait until the main meal service. At least on long-haul flights, Delta offers one complimentary beer or wine per main cabin customer during dinner. We had Bitburger Pils, Heineken and Miller Lite to choose from, as well as red and white wines by Gallo and Fish Eye Cellars. Wines are a good choice, since you’ll get a split bottle containing about two glasses worth.
Delta’s food lineup during my flight was decent and plentiful. Dinner included a small salad, choice of either Chicken Parmesan or Cheese Tortellini, an oatmeal cookie, cheese and crackers and bread and butter. Four hours later we got a small container of vanilla ice cream and about an hour before landing an individual four cheese pizza. Throughout the flight, attendants came around with plenty of water and other beverages. Most of the travelers around me were well fed and content. Two or three had pre-ordered special meals and were designated so by discreet stickers placed on top of their seats ahead of time.
Main cabin customers were offered plenty of in-flight entertainment. There were two full-length movies, a documentary and two sit-coms playing at all times, broken up by cartoons and music videos. Often, the information hounds like me were given an opportunity to see our GPS location, time of flight, and speed data presented on screen, in real time.
Of course, Business Class customers got a lot more, including very comfortable, wider seating which fully reclined and had individual video units and reading lights. Delta now offers a slew of entertainment options, for free and extra-cost, to Business Class customers via their video units. For $5, customers can select from a large list of movies and TV shows, including HBO On-Demand, as well as check stocks, and read online news. Payment is point of sale, through a credit card slot embedded into the bottom of each individual unit. Of course, in Business you also get nicer meals, on china and glass, and as always, free drinks.
Landing and debarkation in Atlanta were effortless. I appreciate also that the flight attendants ran the list of connecting flights and their corresponding gates for everyone prior to leaving the aircraft. It made my trek through ATL a lot easier. My follow-on flight to Tampa was just as effortless, with no issue and no drop in service level.
The Return Trip from Hell
Experienced travelers know that weather delays are the most common cause of headaches and psychoses when journeying. The second most common being the odd mechanical failure. We all pray that neither happen during our excursions. Although when they do, they provide the Airline Industry an opportunity to either really shine, or really stink.
Such was my return trip from Tampa. Weather was beautiful there, but not in Atlanta, where rain and fog were the usual culprits. I arrived at the airport in Tampa in advance of a flight which was still on-time. But in a matter of 20 minutes, the same flight became over an hour delayed, then canceled outright due to mechanical failure. This was a major headache since it reduced a once-comfortable margin between returning flights to less than one hour.
I went straight to the counter and asked for help, not wanting to spend an extra day in Atlanta (only one flight to Stuttgart each day). Undaunted, the agent walked me two gates down to another flight departing for Atlanta! She apologized, saying that it would be a long-shot if my bag made it to Stuttgart with me, which I fully understood, but could live with. At any rate, I flew to Atlanta in Business Class, arriving with enough time to make my connection to Stuttgart.
Well, to end a long story, there was no drop in service during my return trip to Germany. The staff was courteous, professional, and completely service-oriented the entire trip. And, low and behold, my bag appeared on the carousel a mere four minutes after clearing customs in Stuttgart!
Final Thoughts
Delta’s staff handled a very adverse set of conditions with the utmost professionalism during my voyage. Weather is certainly a factor they have no control of, which none the less still angers passengers who naturally take it out on the business. And while the same can’t always be true with respect to mechanical failures—sometimes “it” happens, regardless of how well a company’s staff does their job. Best of all, in Tampa, I decided to join Delta’s Sky Miles program, which allows me to get credit for flights already taken, if reported within 30 days. So now I have 11,000 miles to my credit, which is a little something back for all the headaches! I will definitely travel Delta again, and again.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cuculuain
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Location: Southern USA
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 23 members
About Me:
"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes"
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