AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson doesn’t want to hear customers’ suggestions, referring customer mail containing actual suggestions to his legal team. That’s fair, we suppose: he wouldn’t want a customer to sue later on if a suggestion became a multimillion-dollar idea. Maybe the secret to getting a nice response to your suggestions from a CEO is simple: you need to be 8 years old. [More]
DELTA
Passenger Rights Group Says Delta Is Shaming Travelers Into Buying Ticket Upgrades
By 8.17.15
You might be familiar with the feeling: you go into a purchase with a plan of exactly what you want to buy. No frills, no fuss, no muss. But then, suddenly, you find you’re shelling out more money than you’d planned, perhaps after encountering some persuasive sales tactics. A passenger rights group says Delta Air Lines is employing shame as a method to get travelers to buy ticket upgrades they might not have wanted initially. [More]
Delta Hit With Another $2.7M In Sanctions In Years-Old Baggage-Fee Collusion Case
By 8.6.15
A still-pending class-action lawsuit that dates back to the dawn of the baggage-fee era alleges that Delta and AirTran colluded to implement their original fees for passengers’ first checked bags. But Delta has apparently not been terribly forthcoming with all the documentation sought by plaintiffs and has already been sanctioned millions of dollars by the court, including a $2.7 million slap on the wrist handed down earlier this week. [More]
Delta Air Lines Bans Shipments Of Big Game Trophies
By 8.3.15
UPDATE: United Airlines and American Airlines have also announced bans on shipping the “big five” of wild animal trophies as freight. [More]
Senator Calls For Federal Investigation Into Airline Prices, Data Withholding
By 7.20.15
When looking to book a flight, many consumers find it easier to peruse third-party comparison sites such as Kayak, Orbitz or Expedia where airfare can be easily compared among different airlines. While airlines have had their share of issues with sites that often lead to some fares disappearing, one legislator is calling for a federal investigation over allegations that some carriers completely withhold information from such travel sites in an attempt to block passengers from finding the best price possible. [More]
Does Booking Direct With The Airline Actually Offer You The Lowest Price?
By 6.8.15
It’s no secret that some airlines have little love for online travel-booking sites. Southwest only lets travelers book fares directly through the airline and Delta has cut ties with a number of booking/listing sites, including TripAdvisor. The airline industry claims that booking directly will get consumers the lowest prices on airfare, but is that true? [More]
What Are The Best And Worst Airlines For Using Rewards Travel?
By 5.14.15
So you’ve racked up a bunch of frequent flier miles or loyalty points or whatever your preferred airline calls them, but can you actually use those rewards to book free travel when you want? For some U.S.-based carriers, the answer ranges from “almost definitely” to “good luck.” [More]
Delta Makes 20-Minute Bag Guarantee Permanent, But Still Severely Limited
By 4.6.15
Back in February we told you that Delta was testing a limited-time guarantee for its SkyMiles frequent fliers — Your checked bags will be at the carousel within 20 minutes or you get 2,500 miles. The airline has decided that the program is worth continuing, but it’s still incredibly restrictive. [More]
Passengers Safely Taken Off Delta Jet That Skidded Off Snowy Runway
By 3.5.15
Two-thirds of the flights scheduled to arrive today at New York’s LaGuardia airport have already been canceled, mostly due to the latest snow storm to slam the Mid-Atlantic region. And there are 130 who probably wish their Delta flight to LGA had called off after it slid off the runway this morning. [More]
Delta Testing 20-Minute Guarantee On Checked Bags For Frequent Fliers. What’s The Catch?
By 2.20.15
If you’ve been stuck waiting for your bags at an airport luggage carousel in recent years, you’ve probably overheard someone grouse — or maybe done a bit of grousing yourself — that “I paid these guys extra to check my bags; the least they could do is not make me stand around like a fool for an hour.” In an effort to cut down on said grousing, Delta has quietly launched a limited-time test of a 20-minute guarantee for baggage delivery for its SkyMiles members, though there are so many conditions that it may be an empty promise. [More]
Today In Social Media Hacks: Delta, Newsweek, And CFO Of Twitter Really Need To Change Their Passwords
By 2.10.15
Social media tools are an effective way for businesses and bigwigs to communicate with their customers… that is, as long as those companies or people are in charge of their own accounts. When hackers “borrow” their social presences, much less good things can happen. And today at least three high-profile accounts found that out the hard way. [More]
Man Who Stole $36M From Delta Sentenced To 10 Years, Must Hand Over Yacht, Mansion
By 1.12.15
Last summer, we told you about a former employee at Delta and Northwest airlines who, along with a partner, duped the companies out of millions of dollars by submitting and paying invoices to a bogus company. That partner was recently sentenced to 10 years behind bars and now must turn over all the fun toys he bought with the ill-gotten money. [More]
Delta Employee Arrested After Allegedly Helping To Smuggle Guns On Flight
By 12.23.14
Perhaps the Transportation Security Administration’s recent reminder that guns aren’t permitted in carry-on bags should have explicitly stated that this rule also applies to airline workers. But we doubt that would have stopped a Delta baggage handler from allegedly smuggling more than 100 guns onto flights with the help of a former co-worker.
[More]
Delta Revamps Seating Options; Offers Complimentary Alcohol To Main Cabin On Select Flights
By 12.9.14
Purchasing a plane ticket used to be a pretty straightforward endeavor with consumers having to choose between first-class or economy seating. If wasn’t apparent that those days were long gone, it might be now that Delta Air Lines has turned the whole airplane seating arrangement and offerings on its head with five options to choose from. [More]
26-Year Delta Air Lines Vet Says He Was Fired After Criticizing Baggage Handler Pay
By 12.5.14
There is a game of he said/airline said going on between a baggage handler who was recently fired after more than two decades on the job. He claims he was fired for speaking out publicly on his co-workers’ wages while Delta maintains that the man’s statements were untrue and in violation of company policy. [More]
Some Airlines Prepare For Thanksgiving Snow Storm, Waive Flight Change Fees
By 11.25.14
With the first major travel day of the 2014 holiday season upon us and weather forecasters predicting significant snow across the Midwest and Northeast, some airlines are taking a proactive approach by waiving change fees for Thanksgiving travelers. [More]
This Is Getting Old: Another Flight Diverted Over Reclining Seat Spat
By 9.2.14
First it was that United flight where a passenger used an illegal device to prevent the person in front of them from reclining. Then an air marshal on an American Airlines flight arrested a traveler who wouldn’t give up on his complaint about the woman in front of him putting her seat back. Delta now continues this trend, diverting a flight that was almost at its destination because one passenger thought her tray table was for napping. [More]
Delta Hands Over 7-Year-Old Passenger To Wrong Person
By 8.22.14
Delta has got some explaining to do. Not only did the airline hand over a 7-year-old unaccompanied traveler to the wrong person when she arrived at her destination, but that wrong person happened to be the mother who recently got out of jail for kidnapping and beating the girl back in 2008. [More]
