With whacky ideas like this being floated around, it should come as no great surprise why Delta Airlines is nearly bankrupt and just reported 2nd quarter losses of nearly 2 billion.

I seriously wonder what the hell is going through the minds of the their leadership when they consider doing something like this.

Talk to the Indian or pay a premium to talk to an American?

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/9264411.htm?1c

Crazy, just crazy.

(Message edited by xenono on July 30, 2004)

(Message edited by xenono on July 30, 2004)

Here is a non subscription link.

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/9264411.htm

Very funny but very sad. The fact that so many companies give only lip service at the best when it comes to taking care of their customers is no surprise. However, for Delta to even publically suggest something like this really shows their detachment and contempt.

Xenono, along similar lines, notice the fact that your first link takes you to a site that forces you to register in order to access the information. The ONLY reason for this registration is to invade your life with crap. That's it. We all know that these issues of spam, telemarketing, and the often accompaning identity theft, are among the greatest complaints of Americans today. And yet so many companies persist in trying to screw the public over.

My theory is that the people who come up with these programs are essentially assholes who really couldn't care less about anyone else. They know people don't like this stuff. There is simply no way anyway could be unaware of that today. That they ignore the wishes of 99% of the people says something about their own personalities.

TF,

I am totally with you on that. I am a big privacy guy and very anti-marketing. I use fake email addresses to signup for these sites and always give false information. I make myself an accountant earning 500K+ a year with 10 kids, 20 cars, subscriptions to every newspaper in the country, etc. I am also 80 years old.

I bet they LOVE it when they get my profile. Or I just use a free service that posts passwords to news sites. But I never fill out questionnaires truthfully.

It strikes me this was a stupid survey (trying to determine by having people state a dollar amount how important it was for Delta's customers to speak to someone in the U.S. rather than India) but I don't think Delta actually was seriously thinking about imposing such a fee; at least that is my take on it. However, the morons who designed this poll weren't thinking about the public relations nightmare they were creating.
Maybe I'm giving it the best spin because I have found Delta's service to outshine American Airlines, Northwest, United, and most other U.S. carriers I have flown on. OTOH, I may be jinxing my luck with Delta by making such a proclamation.

This article appeared in today's newspaper from the Washington Post. I haven't flown with Delta since it left me stranded at an airport and wouldn't give me a reason. This article kind of explains everything for me being stranded and it was way before Katrina! Delta says it's stopped doing it, but it won't say it won't do it again. . . so flyers beware.

XXXX snip XXXXXX

Delta will no longer cancel flights when they aren't full

By Keith L. Alexander
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Delta Air Lines caused a stir among passengers recently by admitting to something that has long been suspected as common in the industry. The carrier acknowledged that for more than a month it had canceled some flights as late as two days before departure because the planes weren't full enough.

Delta, which is restructuring under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, said it began the practice to save fuel after Hurricane Katrina sent already high fuel prices skyrocketing. By filling up one plane with passengers scheduled for two flights, the airline was able to conserve fuel.

The tactic sparked outrage among some of Delta's frequent fliers who said they were now leery of flying the airline for fear they may end up stranded at the airport or missing an important meeting. The outrage found its way to the frequent-flier chat board Flyertalk.com, with dozens of Delta passengers questioning the airline's policy

Within days of acknowledging the practice, Delta announced earlier this month that it would no longer cancel flights based on the number of seats filled, saying that fuel prices had stabilized. "It was a temporary measure. We said we wouldn't do it forever," said Delta spokeswoman Benet Wilson.

XXXXXX snip XXXXXX

Without making excuses for Delta's cancelling some flights to save on fuel, I will say of all the U.S. airlines I have flown on recently (including American, United, Continental, Northwest, Alaska, and Southwest) the flight crews on Delta have by far been the best in terms of courtesy and attentiveness, at least in the business class cabins. Having said this, I now am worried about my next Delta flight (in a couple of days) given that it seems whenever I say something good about a U.S. airline, I soon regret it.

How screwed up is this. I decided to use some Delta miles that I had hanging around for a trip to Rio over Memorial Day week and returning on a Sat. night on Deltas new ATL-GIG direct flight.

Well, without even informing me they moved my flight up a day to Friday as they now do not fly from Rio to ATL on Sat or Sun anymore. What's worse is they left my connecting flight from Atlanta to DC on Sun. intact so I'd be stuck in Atlanta for 24 hours. If I hadn't checked my apartment rental e-mail I would have never even noticed.

All of you that are planning using Delta in the future, watch out as they do not return to the states on Sat or Sun anymore.

Here's a chance to get TWO Delta Business Class Seats for less than $500.00.

(Yes this is a joke.... sort of)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Delta-757-leather-business-class-seat-aircraft-theater-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem5193a3fd0dQQitemZ350369348877QQptZMotorsQ5fAviationQ5fPartsQ5fGear