I tip my hat to you Sir. Well done!

 

I remember many years ago, we would always hold the last flight of the night out of ATL, for late connections. We left late, of course, but we got all the connections on and they were very happy they didn't have to spend a night in the ATL.

In those days, Delta led the industry, in CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, not On Time Pushbacks leaving late connections.

Which is more important for Delta's long term survival?

The bean counters have been running the show for too long, looking for any Metric (their favorite word) which will generate a bonus for themselves, when the only Metric they should be concerned with is; CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

It's still a customer service industry, is it not?

Or are we now Greyhound?

 

Timbo, I remember as a new hire FE making the PA that we were holding the flight for late folks.

 

I'm not sure if this helps (i.e. is the right info) but according to that Fleet Information booklet online, all of the 6800s, 6900s and 753s have Dual HF Radios.

That'd add 18 6800s, 4 6900s and 16 753s to the mix.

 

This is what Delta tells every passenger:

The Early Bird Catches the Plane

When you’ve got a plane to catch, it’s important to arrive on time and ready. But it's often hard to tell how long everything is going to take. That’s why we’ve created the suggested check-in requirement times for various locations below. To get a general idea of when you should arrive at the airport, add the helpful check-in times below to the current security wait time. It’s that simple.

Remember, it’s your responsibility to arrive at the airport with enough time to complete all ticketing, baggage check and security clearance procedures to arrive at the gate ready to board. If you don't complete the check-in process by these deadlines, you won't make your flight and change fees may apply. We don’t want that to happen, so keep these times top of mind when planning your airport arrival.
A Great Rule of Thumb

Always arrive at the airport at least 75 minutes prior to departure for travel within the U.S. If you're traveling within the U.S. and checking bags, your baggage must be present at the check-in counter and checked in at least 30 minutes before your scheduled departure time and you are required to be at the gate and ready to board at least 15 minutes before your scheduled departure time.


I think that's pretty clear. If you aren't on time for our flight, and you miss it, then that's your fault. (unless it's a misconnect, in which case there are a myriad of service recovery tools available that our agents can provide) If you're at the airport bar 10 minutes before departure... your fault! Don't ask us to bring the jetway back, load your bag, check you in, find you a seat and in the meantime delay 180 people and make a few of them miss their connections, and also delay the inbound flight waiting for the gate, and the other flight that's waiting for the rampers that are all tied up with this flight. "Delta is ready when you are" was the tagline 30 years ago. We don't live in that world any more. As an old salt once told an air traffic controller-- "Poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine"

Our business depends on running an on time operation as best we can and as safely as possible. Lots of examples of stupid planning on Delta's part. This is about fixing those issues. You can't fix what you don't know is broke.

 

Yeah, I knew those did but the SXM turn requires a domestic bird for the 24 FC seats. I was surprised to see that only 49 domestic aircraft had the HF's, since the 757 used to do a lot of BDA turns. All the 737's have dual HF's.

 

I was flying a MIA JFK flight. We were buttoned up and waiting for a tug at least 5 minutes before D-0. The only tug available was connected to a 757 next to us. The 757 was closed up, beacon on, waiting for ramp to approve their pushback request.

At that time, I looked up and saw a man pounding on the glass window in the concourse. He was hitting it so hard, the vibrations and reflection from the sun is what caught my attention. The CA said to the ground guy downstairs "Boy that guy is really upset about something." The ground guy tells us, "Yeah, he missed your flight and he's been yelling at the gate agent to let him on. We can hear him yelling down here."

The CA gets on Ops Radio and we find out he is a First Class passenger going to Paris. The CA relates that we can get him on because no tugs are available and the 757 has yet to push. Ops calls the Gate Agent. The GA is furious and WILL NOT let him on. Ops relays back to the CA that the passenger isn't getting on. Then the CA says "I'm setting the parking brake and I'm not leaving until he's on the flight. He's paid thousands of dollars to fly first class, and we're not even close to pushing back yet. Put him on or I'm not leaving." 5 minutes go by. Then I see the GA talking to someone on the phone. Now the tug is up to the aircraft and they're ready to push us. The gate agent appears at the end of the jetway. CA and her exchange words and she REFUSES to put him on. CA is defiant and tells her that he's not leaving. GA leaves in a rant. 5 minutes later (now we're like 20 minutes late at this point), the GA moves the jetway over to the aircraft and they put the first class passenger on. He gets on the jet, thanks the CA over and over. We leave. We made up most of the delay in flight.

Had some common sense been used by the GA and Ops, we could have put him on the plane well within the time it took to push the 757 and rest the tug. Ridiculous. I was embarrassed for the passengers even though everything worked out in the end.

 

Ruh roh. Niners in trouble. Alex Smith soon? Hope so.

 

Couldn't hurt.

 

Is it just me, or do halftime shows suck a little more each time.

Carl