Don't EVER take Delta anywhere!

[Polybound]

We've always had trouble with our flights with Delta. My wife is taking the kids on a last minute, quick trip to Disney today.

Flight was supposed to leave at 7:30 AM this morning. Got to the airport early, was notified that there was an hour and half delay, because the flight crew got in late and they couldn't fly because of a 10 hour rule. Hour and a half delay came and went, then they were told that there was a mechanical and they were having to fly parts in. Another period of time passed, they got on the plane, and waited, then they had to de-plane, because they were told they had to change a water filter. They eventually got back on the plane and just sat there on the tarmac and now they're being told that they've got to add additional fuel, because they're expecting turbulent weather. It's 12:45 now and they're still sitting on the tarmac. They missed their original connecting flight and have changed to another flight getting in much later this afternoon. Unfortunately Delta has the best schedule to Orlando out of our home town and unfortunately we've booked them again for another trip to Disney in December. Never again though.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

This is why our arrival day has no HDDR, No Party Tickets and no VA. Just too much can happen at the airport. We fly Southwest.

 

[BeerMe]

This is why our arrival day has no HDDR, No Party Tickets and no VA. Just too much can happen at the airport. We fly Southwest.

What does the Veteran's Administration have to do with Disney?

 

[KrazeeK120]

Those types of issues can (and do) happen on any airline. I've flown Delta a couple of times and had no problems.

 

[jpeden]

While I understand your frustration, I'm not sure this section of the boards is the appropriate place for it. Consequently, I almost exclusively fly Delta since one of their major hubs is closest to me and I've never had an issue.

 

[DebbieB]

What does the Veteran's Administration have to do with Disney?

My guess Victoria & Alberts.

 

[KrazeeK120]

While I understand your frustration, I'm not sure this section of the boards is the appropriate place for it. Consequently, I almost exclusively fly Delta since one of their major hubs is closest to me and I've never had an issue.

Agree - this would be better suited to the transportation board.

 

[IrishNYC]

The is why we never plan anything important to us for our first day of any vacation, Disney or anywhere else, always take the first flight of the day, and only take direct flights. Things still happen. Situations like you've described have happened to me on every airline I've ever used, Delta, American, JetBlue, VirginAtlantic, Al Italia, Northwest, US Airways, etc.

 

[bdcp]

Everything that you mentioned happened has happened to other airlines. My DS and DDIL were heading to Ireland for their honeymoon a couple of years ago and their flight was delayed for two hours because the autopilot button was missing. In other words, someone took it for another plane so they couldn't take off til they found a replacement. They were on United.

 

[tizzant]

Sometimes things happen while flying (and while driving, too, honestly). Delta always did well by us so we vastly prefer them.

 

[DWillowBay]

Stuff happens.. We can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to it. I hope your family gets there safely and has a great time!

 

[DisBuckMan]

I flew for work every single week for about 6 years back in the late 90's/early 00's, with an average of close to 200 segments each of those years. I've used all of the major airlines, and many of the smaller ones. They're ALL at the mercy of weather, airport traffic, connecting flights from other airports with bad weather and airport traffic, mechanical issues, etc. None are better than the next.

Southwest used to work the system (may still do, I haven't flown much in the last dozen years) by using smaller "secondary" airports in the big cities (Love in Dallas, Hobby in Houston, OC in L.A., Midway in Chicago, LaGuardia in NY, Ft. Lauderdale instead of Miami, etc) and it made their "on-time" records better. YOu couldn't get anywhere close to Atlanta back then on SW. But, what I made some of my co-workers understand who always bragged about SW's on-time performance back then, was that when it took you 10 hours and 3 connections to get cross-country "on-time", what's the point in bragging about being "on-time"? I could board Delta in Birmingham, fly to Atlanta, get delayed two hours, and still beat them to L.A. by 2 or 3 hours. Short segments into smaller airports was a lot of smoke and mirrors. Now, SW is going into some larger airports, and I see that for 2015, Delta's on-time performance was better than SW's.

They all have the same problems.

 

[Disney mac]

Doesn't
Ever
Leave
The
Airport

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I expect OP will eventually discover that their only option is to drive. Perfection in airlines is hard to do.


(SW Has gone way downhill in on time performance sadly)

 

[loves to dive]

I've had those same problems on every airline I've ever flown on (do not spend the night in Guam airport, it's not fun). Flying used to be better than it is now with all the price cuts and extra costs but it is what it is. We pretty much always fly Delta because we fly our of Atlanta, which is a Delta hub and if you don't use Delta they make you use the concourse that is 552 miles from everywhere with no food options and an out doors toilet (yes that was sarcasm the toilet is inside).

 

[Jennasis]

I hate flying and stuff like that is among te many reasons why. But to be fair, we drive and are at the mercy of a LOT of potential craziness that could affect our arrival...traffic, weather, construction, accidents, mechanical car issues. One year, we hit Florida during a massive forest fire (back in the80's) that made us HOURS late.

 

[xlsm]

I'm really sorry you had a rough start to your trip! We fly exclusively on Delta because we have their credit card and get quite a few miles from them. Luckily we've never had a problem bigger than a rain delay.
When flying, you always run the risk of delays...better to be fixed and late than on time and...not fixed

Hopefully this is just a bump in the road and the rest of your trip is great!!

 

[MrsJamesPSullivan]

Sorry they've had such a bad day and I hope the rest of the trip goes better. As someone who has been flying for 46 years I can tell you that you will not find an airline that doesn't have that kind of problem. It's just getting worse so we can all get used to it or start driving.

 

[Micca]

Air travel is sketchy anymore. We've done pretty well with SW, but I always figure there is going to be one issue or another. When it all goes well, I'm pleasantly surprised.

@BeerMe - Maybe it's for Dis Veterans!

 

[goofy4tink]

I try not to fly Delta anymore. I've had too many flight changes with them. However....I haven't had perfect service with other airlines either. There was the time I was supposed to fly out of Providence, on JetBlue, at 8:00. We boarded the plane ontime, but sat on the tarmac for a bit. Strange sounds coming from that plane..back to the gate we went. Off we got. After about 20 mins, we were told that the plane was being taken out of service due to a mechanical issue. They had to wait for another plane to be flown in to get us to MCO. At about 11:30, we finally boarded the new plane. Now, to be fair, they did keep us updated, giving us free beverages and snacks at the gate. And a credit on our accounts for future use.
But, this was the only time I had ever made plans for within 3 hrs of my arrival time. I was staying at the CR, and the event was there..so figured it was a no brainer. We finally arrived at MCO about 2:15, got to the CR about 3:30. But, my event had been scheduled for 1:00!!! It was all over.

No airline is free from bad stories. They've all had their issues. It's just the nature of the beast.