Torture by Delta

 (The Saga of flight DL 17 on March 16, 2007)

 

 

I boarded Delta flight DL 17 flight at Mumbai on 16th March at 1am. This flight from Mumbai to NY is 16 hours long and quite boring. Could hardly sleep on the plane. The flight was full and packed to capacity. Luckily, I had an aisle seat. We arrived at JFK airport at 8 am on Friday 16th March, 2007. The same flight after immigration and customs was supposed to leave for Atlanta at 9:40 am. From Atlanta I was booked on an afternoon flight to Gainesville, Florida (my final destination for this journey).

 

I almost got caught in the immigration. An extremely rude immigration officer almost tore my passport saying that he has to ensure that this is a genuine passport. After that he grilled me on renewable energy and wanted to know the difference between electron and proton! He was a science school teacher in a NY school and wanted to know whether I was a genuine energy man! Little knowledge is a dangerous thing and in the hands of an immigration officer it is lethal! Then he suddenly announced that my finger prints do not match so I had to go to his boss who cleared me in a minute. This was the rudest treatment I have received at any immigration counter in US and I have passed through these airports hundreds of times.

 

After clearing the customs, I reached the gate for the flight DL 17 just in time as they were boarding it. This was 9:15 am on 16 March 2007. All the passengers boarded by 9:40 am and we waited in the aircraft till 10: 40 am when the captain announced that the paper work is not in order and he is waiting for it to finish soon.

 

Then at 11:15 am he announced that there is a sheet of ice on the runway and it will be too dangerous to fly and that we have to wait for the weather to become all right. So we waited till 12:30 pm and by that time all the water in the plane had finished. So people started getting very impatient and the stewardess kept on telling the passengers that they have ordered crates of water and it should be coming soon. However it came only after two hours!

 

In the meantime two German passengers used the plane phone and abused the pilot in the choicest words and immediately there was a swift reaction. The NYPD or the guards came in the plane and escorted them out of the plane. Besides the pilot ordered all the passengers to take their seats and not move around. This was almost like a kindergarten type of affair where even if one wanted to go to the bathroom an overzealous steward would come rushing in the aisle and yell at you to take a seat. The whole scenario reminded me of Hollywood hijack movies!

 

I then befriended a helpful airhostess and requested her that she should tell the captain that we have been sitting in the plane for more than 3 ½ hours and with no signs of weather improving at least we should be allowed to go in the gate area to stretch. She immediately requested the captain who gave the permission to do so. So when the captain announced that we could go into the gate area immediately half the plane got empty. That is when the chaos started!

 

The guys at the gate were caught unaware and did not know who is coming and going! The Delta representatives at the gate got very nervous and immediately a team went to the captain telling him that this is not allowed because of security concerns and so suddenly at 1:30 pm the captain announced that the weather has improved and we are leaving to take help of window of opportunity. By this time half the passengers were scattered all over NY airport so by the time they could be herded back it was already 2:30 pm.

 

As we were settling down for the plane to leave the captain announced that there is a glitch in the plane monitors and so a team of technicians have been called. By the time the glitches were removed it was about 3:45 pm. We then got a feeling that the plane was trying to move but it could not do so. So again the “reassuring” voice of captain informed us the because of ice/snow on the ground the tow trucks have failed so a bigger tow truck was requisitioned.

 

So finally at 4:30 pm the plane finally left the gate area. Then it moved to 100 m from the gate for deicing machines to work. The machines started in full blast and after 45 minutes all the power of the plane vanished! The captain again announced that the cleaning fluid has gone inside the turbine and it will take some time so after 15 minutes the power was restored.

 

As the deicing was going on suddenly the captain announced that there is a medical emergency on the plane and a woman has had a massive heart attack. Why this did not happen before with so many elderly people on the plane and with hardly any water and food is a miracle. Anyway the captain said that we have to immediately return to the gate. So 100 meters distance was traveled in 45 minutes!

 

Finally at 6 pm after being in the aircraft for nearly 9 hours we all embarked from the plane with the announcement that the flight will depart to Atlanta at 7 pm and that we should go and get something to eat. I requested the Delta representative at the gate for meal coupons. He replied that the act of God (read weather) does not allow the meal coupons to be given. So we went to the food court to pick up something to eat and when we came back to the gate around 6:30 pm we were told by the Delta representative that the flight has been cancelled and that we should pick up our checked luggage and contact the Delta ticketing counter.

 

By this time most of the flights had been cancelled at JFK because of snowstorm and so there was an utter chaos at the airport and no body seemed to have any idea of what to advice and recommend. There was almost total collapse of decision making.

 

I was extremely tired and had not slept for 24 hours! Anyway I stood in line at the Delta counter for almost 45 minutes and was told that everything to Atlanta is full till Monday. So the counter lady gave me a standby status for the next morning DL 17 flight. My standby number was 55! Anyway I took it and then went to collect my baggage from the baggage claim area. By this time the snow/ice was falling quite rapidly and in this freezing weather I had to walk one block outside to reach the baggage building. All my warm clothes were in my checked baggage. Luckily I did not get sick because with only a thin jacket (which I used during the Mumbai-NY flight since the temperature in the plane is very cold) I ran to this building.

 

I got my baggage at around 7:45 pm and again went with it outside to the building to the Delta check-in counter. Again stood in line for an hour to see if I can get something better. By this time the other passengers of our flight had found out that the same flight (but with a different number) will leave in the morning at 4:45 am and that we should get the seats on it. So I reached the Delta counter where an Italian gentleman was manning it. He could not understand my tired English nor could I understand his thick Italian accent. Any way he was very helpful and so he gave me a confirmed seat for the flight in 1st class!

 

So at 8:45 pm I have a confirmed seat for the 4:45 am Atlanta flight but still saddled with the baggage. The Delta counter told me that I have to check it in the morning. So I told them that which counter will open at 4 am! So they suggested that I should ckeck-in at 10:45 pm.

 

I have always found out that when confronted with crisis situation the brain works very fast. So suddenly I realized that TSA may not be open at 10:45 pm. I did find out that they close at 10 pm. So I pleaded with the Delta counter person to please take my luggage and finally at 10 pm I was able to check my baggage with the TSA.

 

There were many passengers who were traveling with me from Mumbai on this flight and we were all going to Atlanta. I befriended 4 of them and hence we all got together and then went to sleep on the floor in the baggage claim area. It was just like the homeless people sleeping on the platforms in India on the floor. All thanks to Delta!

 

We hardly slept on the floor for couple of hours since we had to catch the 4 am flight. The next day we again walked a block in the freezing temperature to Gate 4 in JFK and got into the TSA line at 3:30 am. After passing through security we started boarding at 4:15 am. The flight left at 7 am instead of 4:45 am and we reached Atlanta at 9 am.

 

In this whole unpleasant episode I found attitude of Delta staff as follows:

 

  1. Quite callous attitude without any semblance of courtesy and good behavior. I feel that after 8 hours of ordeal in the plane a basic courtesy demanded that they should have given meal coupons and better advice on how to go to Atlanta.
  2. Total collapse of line function. No ability to take decisions locally and always quoting the rules.
  3. Basic collapse of the system where even getting 3 crates of water took them almost 3 hours. 
  4. Tremendous fear exhibited by the passengers so there was hardly a murmur of protest. I guess this is the legacy of 9/11.

 

I have been a loyal customer of Delta since 1980s and this nightmare will make me think twice before I will take another Delta flight.

 

 

Anil K Rajvanshi

P.O.Box 44, Phaltan – 415523

Maharashtra, India

Ph: 02166-222396/220577

E-mail: anilrajvanshi@gmail.com

 

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