FoodLover
Founder of MouseSavers.com
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2000
- Messages
- 1,894
Because of the uncertainties about a possible strike at Delta, which most experts believe would lead to a total shutdown of Delta within 24-48 hours, I have been doing a lot of research in the past week about what will happen to ticket holders if Delta goes belly-up.
The news is mostly bad, I'm afraid, but not hopeless.
If you are holding Delta tickets and the pilots are on strike but the airline has not yet shut down and you are traveling at that time, you'll need to go to a Delta ticket counter and get your tickets signed over to another airline that flies the same route. Based on past strikes, expect very long lines and lots of confusion. No other airline has any obligation to help you directly at all. If you don't want to fool with this process, you'll just have to buy a new ticket on another airline.
However, the likelihood is that Delta will shut down within 48 hours if there is a strike. If the airline actually ceases operations, everything changes:
* If you are holding Delta-issued tickets (even if they are on another airline), if Delta shuts down those tickets are no longer valid. However, any US airline that operates on the same route is required by law to honor your "confirmed" ticket (paid or frequent flyer award, doesn't matter) on a "space available" (standby) basis, for a fee not to exceed $50 each way.
* You will have 60 days after a shutdown to arrange for alternate transportation on a US carrier that covers the same route. The reality is, this will be tough. Since you have to fly standby on the other carrier, you will be last priority and can be "bumped" repeatedly. In the past, when Pan Am and Eastern went out of business, many people who were in the middle of traveling were stranded for days or longer.
* If you want further, official information, here is the DOT's most recent publication on the subject of the airlines' obligations to honor tickets issued by bankrupt airlines:
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/Section 145Guidance2005June.doc
It's very detailed and includes a 13-page Q&A section addressing many different scenarios.
* International carriers have NO obligation to honor tickets issued by any shut down US airline, even if the tickets were issued for that international carrier's flights. (For instance, if you have Delta-issued tickets on Alitalia, Alitalia does not have to honor those tickets once Delta shuts down.)
* Skymiles (Delta frequent flyer miles) will be worthless if Delta shuts down, unless another carrier buys Delta and chooses to take those miles over. Based on what happened when Pan Am shut down, this is unlikely.
If you are debating whether to purchase Delta tickets right now, here is an article that I think makes a pretty persuasive argument against it:
http://www.hasbrouck.org/articles/bankruptcy.html
The article above is also extremely informative about airline bankruptcy in general.
Not trying to scare anyone -- just want you to know the facts so that you can make alternate arrangements if necessary. Hopefully there will not be a strike and 50,000 Delta employees won't lose their jobs!
Mary
MouseSavers.com
The news is mostly bad, I'm afraid, but not hopeless.
If you are holding Delta tickets and the pilots are on strike but the airline has not yet shut down and you are traveling at that time, you'll need to go to a Delta ticket counter and get your tickets signed over to another airline that flies the same route. Based on past strikes, expect very long lines and lots of confusion. No other airline has any obligation to help you directly at all. If you don't want to fool with this process, you'll just have to buy a new ticket on another airline.
However, the likelihood is that Delta will shut down within 48 hours if there is a strike. If the airline actually ceases operations, everything changes:
* If you are holding Delta-issued tickets (even if they are on another airline), if Delta shuts down those tickets are no longer valid. However, any US airline that operates on the same route is required by law to honor your "confirmed" ticket (paid or frequent flyer award, doesn't matter) on a "space available" (standby) basis, for a fee not to exceed $50 each way.
* You will have 60 days after a shutdown to arrange for alternate transportation on a US carrier that covers the same route. The reality is, this will be tough. Since you have to fly standby on the other carrier, you will be last priority and can be "bumped" repeatedly. In the past, when Pan Am and Eastern went out of business, many people who were in the middle of traveling were stranded for days or longer.
* If you want further, official information, here is the DOT's most recent publication on the subject of the airlines' obligations to honor tickets issued by bankrupt airlines:
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/Section 145Guidance2005June.doc
It's very detailed and includes a 13-page Q&A section addressing many different scenarios.
* International carriers have NO obligation to honor tickets issued by any shut down US airline, even if the tickets were issued for that international carrier's flights. (For instance, if you have Delta-issued tickets on Alitalia, Alitalia does not have to honor those tickets once Delta shuts down.)
* Skymiles (Delta frequent flyer miles) will be worthless if Delta shuts down, unless another carrier buys Delta and chooses to take those miles over. Based on what happened when Pan Am shut down, this is unlikely.
If you are debating whether to purchase Delta tickets right now, here is an article that I think makes a pretty persuasive argument against it:
http://www.hasbrouck.org/articles/bankruptcy.html
The article above is also extremely informative about airline bankruptcy in general.
Not trying to scare anyone -- just want you to know the facts so that you can make alternate arrangements if necessary. Hopefully there will not be a strike and 50,000 Delta employees won't lose their jobs!
Mary
MouseSavers.com
I guess there could be worse things than getting stranded in FL!
