Services not rendered

Delta has reimbursed me with a $125 voucher.

Although I still think Delta could and should have done more to avoid
the incident altogether, a reasonable case can be made that a voucher
in this amount at least fulfills Delta's obligations under its
Contract of Carriage.

As a reference, below is the final letter I sent to Delta:


----------------------

As I mentioned in my original letter, flight 1737 was delayed because
the aircraft was not made available by Delta to fly on time. The
plane was not ready because it was being used by Delta to service
another flight and that other flight was delayed due to a medical
incident.

In this case, Delta did not abide by the terms of its Contract of
Carriage for at least the following reasons:

Multiple gate agents refused to provide me relief under Rule 240,
Section C (e.g., hotel), claiming that my flight 1737 did not qualify
since it was delayed due to a medical emergency, which qualifies as a
"condition beyond Delta's control" (Rule 240.C.6). However, flight
1737 was *not* delayed due to a medical emergency; it was delayed due
to cascading delay from an earlier, unrelated flight. While a medical
emergency may be out of Delta's control, the ability of that
emergency
to affect future flights is certainly under Delta's control. Since
nobody on my flight experienced a medical problem, the delay of my
flight was not caused by a medical emergency or any other circumstance
out of Delta's control. The delay is therefore not exempt under Rule
240.C.

The delay of flight 1737 was in fact due to Delta's violation of Rule
240.A ("Delta will exercise reasonable efforts to carry you and your
baggage according to Delta's published schedules and the schedule
reflected on your ticket") since Delta's plan for having an aircraft
ready for flight 1737 was inadequate, negligent, and did not
constitute "reasonable effort".

Because Delta sold me a confirmed seat on flight 5169 and essentially
denied me the right to board that flight without providing "Qualified
Alternative Transport" as defined in 245.F.1, I think it is fair to
ask for "involuntary denied boarding compensation", as outlined in
Rule 245.F.2.

Thank you for your time,

As somebody that flies 250,000 miles a year, I'm very familiar with
how airlines work, their policies and procedures. While your
situation was unfortunate you are SOL. There is no way around it. No
amount of arguing with posters on here is going to change the
situation. As others have stated, a medical emergency is an act which
is beyond the control of the airline and not something they hold
responsibility for. Given that, all the airline is responsible for is
getting you to your destination. They are not obligated to do
anything more for you. You just need to accept that the fact that in
this situation Delta was not wrong and just move on!!

Services WERE rendered. You chose to fly to Killen, which is a very
small airport. You could have waited to be confirmed on a flight to
Austin or the even bigger airport of San Antonio which is closer to
Austin then Killen is. I dont see why you chose a flight that only
had a 30 mintue window for changes..that is only a set up for failure.
You also chose to fly via Atlanta. All the choices have been yours
and yours alone. Its not Delta's fault that someone became ill on the
flight prior to yours.

If you fly more then once per year, then you should know that delays
happen. All the time. The airlines can not be held responsible for
all delays. When it comes to weather, illness, and all those out of
control things then its just literly out of thier hands. On Monday,
July 27th EVERY flight into and out of Dallas was delayed by at least
an hour (mine was 3 hours). They had had very bad and dangerous
storms in the DFW area. Trust me, I want them to be delayed, cause I
dont want to fly if its not safe.

My advice is for YOU to plan better. I say allow at least an hour
between conections, that way you have a bit of time to make it your
next gate. Had you have had that time cushion of one hour, then even
with the 30 minute delay you would have made your flight.

You are owned nothing.

I'll give you credit for the most stereotypically Texan answer :)

Unfortunately, it basically amounts to "you should have known better
than to take the Air Line at it's word, so it's your fault." That
attitude typifies the reason we have such crummy customer service -
because we don't hold companies accountable to the same degree as
consumers.

Try reversing roles and see if your logic holds. Imagine for a moment
that Delta first flies you and then collects the airfare when you
deboard (simply reversing the order in which each of you fulfill your
obligations). You board the flight and when you get off, you tell
them that due to an unforseen medical expense this week, you can't
pay. But since your expense was unforeseen, you owe them nothing.

Lets follow your logic exactly (please pay attention): If Delta flies
people more than once a year, then they should know that people can't
pay. All the time. People cannot be held responsible for all of
their unforeseen expenses. When it comes to car expenses, illness,
and all those out of control things then its just literally out of the
passenger's hands. On Monday, July 27th NOBODY paid Delta for their
flight in and out of Dallas. I didn't pay them. People who had lost
their jobs couldn't pay. Trust me, I didn't want people to pay Delta
for their flights if they can't afford it. My advice is for DELTA to
plan better. I say don't book passengers with bad credit, that way,
they are more likely to pay for the flights they take. If they had
better credit, then even with unforeseen car and/or medical expenses,
they would have still paid Delta for their flight. Delta is owed
nothing.

You should have found the above passage absurd and its arguments
completely irrelevant. But it's the exact same argument you just made
on the airline's behalf. You also probably didn't follow...but oh
well.

As an aside, you should read more carefully - my ticket was to Austin.
The reason I flew to Killeen was because it was the *only* flight
leaving that day into *any* city in Texas. Choices normally involve
deciding between at least two competing alternatives. Since Killeen
was the only flight, it wasn't a choice.

http://tinyurl.com/fzf47

I believe on page 49 it discusses connections, and situations out of
Delta's control.

The reason the flight was delayed *is* material, according to the
contract.

I think Delta's liability is limited to returning your fare under
these circumstances. It doesn't seem fair, but that is my
interpretation.

Perhaps you shouldnt book your connections with little time in
between!

Sometimes its better to leave a cushion in air travel scheduling.


Good Day

you missed the flight - even though it wasn't your fault.

I'm kind of shocked about this. Usually when there is a delay on a
flight that has known connections, they hold the other flights. Esp.
since they opted to make all the other passengers late on this one
while they tended to the medical emergency.

Unfortunately for you, this is how the sirline industry is across the
board. If you ever wanted to define what a LACK of customer service
is, THIS would be the place to look.

I hope they remedy this for you, but unfortunately, they get away with
this crap every day because they know they're dealing with people who
likely have no alternatives.