Delta Gets It (or at Least One Captain Does)

Last Sunday, January 24th, I flew on Delta Airlines flight 1862 from Austin, TX to Atlanta, GA. Knowing that there were thunderstorms in Atlanta, I wasn’t surprised to arrive at the gate in Austin and find a 20-minute delay. We took off on an MD-88 and had an uneventful flight until we entered the airspace around Atlanta.

The pilot notified us that there were thunderstorms at the airport and that we would circle around La Grange, GA until we could land.

Unfortunately, the weather outlasted us. We were next notified that we would be diverting to Augusta, Ga as we needed to refuel. We landed and the pilot got on the intercom. He told us that he understood that many of us wanted to get off of the plane and wait in the terminal. He assured us that he was working with the airport to see what he could do.

A few minutes later, he came back on and notified us that we would need to choose one of three courses of action. The first was, if we wanted to deplane and make our own arrangements to our final destination. But he warned us that the local rental car agencies would not lease one-way trips. The second course of action was for those people who wanted to deplane and wait in the terminal until we were cleared to fly to Atlanta. Finally, the third course was for those people who just wanted to wait on the plane.

I chose the second and waited for about an hour in the terminal where I was able to catch part of the AFC NFL playoff game.

Then we were called to reboard. Eventually, we arrived in Atlanta after an extremely turbulent ride.

I didn’t have a chance to talk at length with the pilot so I don’t know if the concern he showed the passengers was his own or a new attitude brought about by the recent FAA ruling requiring passengers to be allowed to deplane after three hours. Thanks to Kate Hanni and her volunteers who founded Flyersrights.org, there’s been a heightened awareness about what to do in these situations. The pilot was working on a way to get us off the plane almost as soon as he pulled the plane to a complete stop.

During our entire trip he went out of his way to not only keep us informed, but to explain what he was doing and why. For example, he announced that his number one goal was our safe arrival. That reassured us. Second, he gave us frequent updates, including an announcement as we approached Atlanta that we were only miles away from being out of the turbulence.

I applaud his professionalism and his customer service attitude. I hope that this is a new “Delta” attitude as well where the crews start working on solutions as soon as the planes roll to a stop.

Second, my hat’s off to Kate Hanni and her volunteers. If it wasn’t for her hard work over the past two or so years, we would have never had a ruling limited time on the tarmac. One person can make a difference, now more than ever in this age of social media.

Well done, Captain. Thank you for caring so much. Thanks too to the other Delta and Augusta airport staff that smoothed the way for us to deplane.

And thank you, Kate, for your hard work as well.

Regards,

Glenn

Come fly with me on Twitter. I’m txglennross.