DH,

Boxer is a moron. No, that its not fair to morons. Boxer is sub-moronic.

Not only is there already a policy for military travel it is a federal policy. It is called the JFTR or Joint Federal Travel Regulations. Every carrier that wants to be eligible to bid for government contracts including carrying military members must comply with certain rules, regulations and standards.

Furthermore, as has been pointed out numerous times - these guys were not paying with their own coin - it is all put on a travel claim, normally a government issued credit card that they should all have been using. As a matter of fact every US Navy member is supposed to have and use a government card.

These soldiers were simply venting and getting back at a company (Delta) in this case, that ****ed them off, in the way this generation does - via the web-based media. Thats OK. The media are the ones who made a big deal out of this whole issue. It seems that any large organization is afraid of any possible criticism or slight of the military. If the policy is three bags the guys should have known and been ready for the charges. Being deployed in the military is not a valid excuse for not knowing the travel policy. Note - I am currently in the military and have been for over 25 years.

Most Importantly - DAL had better get used to this kind of bad publicity. Trying to micro-manage your employees vice training, trusting, and empowering them to make decisions on the spot does not bode well in this day of twitter, youtube, and the whole inter-web thingy.

Scoop