A musician with elite status on Delta Air Lines says he was denied boarding after stepping away to deal with a medical issue moments before departure. It’s an unfortunate story, but I’m siding with Delta on this one.
A Sad Situation, But Delta Was Not Unreasonable
Matthew “Blackbear” Musto, a musician who says he has long been a loyal Delta customer, posted a thread on X describing how he missed a flight after his insulin pump malfunctioned shortly before boarding.
hey @delta .. always been my favorite commercial airline but today was kinda WILD.
ive flown delta for years .. diamond medallion all that.. flown my crew show to show .. booked most of my international flights to sweden norway brazil tons of tokyo & europe w delta & delta partners .. used my miles for hotels .. tens of millions of points have gone through my account.
today my insulin pump failed me before i got to the gate and had to take a real shot of insulin in the bathroom & ran 2 the gate
the lady let me in but the guy at the front of the plane said “doors closed can’t open it sorry no can do! rules are rules”
– I explained my health condition / predicament he was just like no .. cold hearted no empathy & in a bad mood terrible attitude down right mean.. and i felt like he judged me. i showed the gate agent my pump + dexcom and explained it was a medical emergency.
i got to the door at 11:19/11:20 as it was closing for an 11:30 flight. my seat was 4c first class .. platinum medallion .. and there were still more than 10 minutes until takeoff.
even after seeing the medical devices and hearing what happened .. the gate agent still wouldn’t reopen the door.
now i’m rerouted coach through atlanta and missing a session for the mixtape tonight. then im off to work with kane brown some more
i totally get rules if someone late because they grabbed starbucks or were doing their eyeliner .. but diabetes isn’t a fashion choice .. it’s life or death.
loyalty programs should mean something.. what is the point of having one if not? Just sell more credit cards that earn miles?
Health emergencies should be excused or at least a quick assessment w mgmt or someone higher up on staff ? a little empathy would’ve gone a long way today.
maybe you guys can make it up to me on my next tokyo flight lol 😂 Im truly truly upset with how today went
i NOT not saying veto delta..
im just saying if u have any kind of health issues, beware they may not work with u and make u downgrade ur flight and miss out on business obligation’s and frankly ruin your day and travel experience over something completely out of your control.
In short, he missed his flight by a few minutes because he had to manually deliver an insulin shot before stepping onboard the aircraft. Because he arrived the gate 11 minutes before departure, he was told he was too late.
A Truly Unfortunate Situation
First, some empathy is warranted here.
Diabetes is not a minor inconvenience. When an insulin pump fails, it requires immediate attention. Anyone dealing with a medical issue moments before boarding would feel panicked and frustrated, especially after running to the gate only to find the door closing.
It’s easy to understand why Musto was upset.
But Delta had no way of knowing where he was and airlines operate under strict boarding cutoffs for good reason.
For most flights in the USA, passengers must be present at the gate no later than 15 minutes before departure. When passengers do not show up by that time, agents begin clearing standbys and processing upgrades.
This is not done to be cruel. It is done to keep flights departing on time.
If a passenger disappears shortly before departure, the airline has no way of knowing whether that passenger stepped away for coffee, got stuck in a restroom line, or simply missed the flight.
From the airline’s perspective, a no-show is a no-show.
Musto points out that he arrived around 11:19 or 11:20 for an 11:30 departure. But by that point the aircraft door had already been closed.
Once the door is closed, reopening it is not a simple matter. It can require re-running paperwork, delaying pushback, and potentially affecting the flight’s departure slot. Airlines enforce these cutoffs consistently because once exceptions begin, on-time performance quickly deteriorates.
Would It Have Been Nice To Make An Exception?
Absolutely.
Given the circumstances, it would have been a kind gesture if the crew or gate agent had been able to reopen the door and allow him to board. But “would have been nice” is not the same thing as “unreasonable.”
The airline followed a policy designed to ensure flights depart on time and that standby passengers receive seats when confirmed passengers do not show up. Those policies exist for a reason.
CONCLUSION
Musto’s story is frustrating and unfortunate. A medical issue forced him to step away at exactly the wrong moment, and the result was a missed flight and disrupted plans.
But from Delta’s perspective, a passenger who does not appear at the gate before the boarding cutoff is a no-show. It would have been nice if an exception could have been made.
Still, Delta’s decision to follow its boarding rules was not unreasonable.
Should airlines reopen the door when a passenger arrives minutes before departure when it is clearly due to a medical issue?
image: Delta Air Lines
Scheduled Departure times are usually pushback times, right? The door closes and the jetway is disconnected before then, so it’s not like they can reconnect the door, especially on a tight schedule.
Well, at least Ed Bastian gets $100 million in stock incentives… that’ll fix it!
(Sowie, about the more expensive fares! Whoopsie!)
From reading what he wrote, the lady at the gate let him in, but the guy in front of the plane door did not.
I don’t have status with Delta but when I was an exec plat with AA, the gate agent called me once when I had a flight JFK-CDG. They were already boarding and I was still in security. Thankfully I answered and she told me they’re closing the door in 10 minutes and asked if I were nearby. After I told her I was in the security line and should be there in 5 mins, she told me she’d look out for me. Not sure if AA still does this but I really appreciated the gesture.
I had a similar experience recently with United. I was in the boarding area for a domestic flight waiting for my spouse who was stuck in Customs trying to make the connection from overseas. UA agents told me everything was fine; they understood the mid-field Customs Hall (dedicated to UA at IAD) was full and that the flight could be held for a few minutes. Spouse came running up to the gate just as an agent way down the line walkie-talkied to my gate that they had spotted the wayward spouse hustling to the gate. Bottom line, doors were closed three minutes late and we made our flight thanks to UA’s personnel having empathy for the situation.
Policy should always win over people.
I read about a story of the CEO of American Airlines missed his flight after the plane had pushed back from the gate and was heading to the runway, he was told the plane had already left and he said “well, bring it back” and they did. This would have been back in the 1960s, don’t know if they would do that now even for the CEO but it is possible they would.
i’m not sure why it matters he was in first class. If it was an economy class passenger should we feel any differently one way or another?
Why didn’t he just give himself his shot after he was seated?
Because insulin requirements are nothing to fool with or delay. When the pump fails, a manual injection by syringe is needed IMMEDIATELY to ward off an medical emergency such as going into diabetic shock and a trip to hospital
Nah, even if his blood glucose level was elevated it’s unlikely a short delay would have had an adverse effect. Diabetic ketoacidosis doesn’t onset within a half-hour.
Not so. And if it was that big of a deal, he would’ve given himself the shot while he was standing in line, waiting to board. The shots are easy peasy. I would know. I shoot up, too!
Good Lord, people. When the door is closed, the flight attendants arm the slides and move on to their next task for takeoff.
It’s not just a matter of the gate agents standing outside deciding to open the door.
Yeah, the agent at the door could let him go because she doesn’t know the status of the door at that second, leaving that to the other agent who will drive back the loading bridge.
Diabetes or wanting to call one’s mother has nothing to do with it.
Wilford Brimley: “Dia-betus”
I would have thrown him off for his poor grammar.
Tattoos on the face and neck never lie.
Entitlement issue alert!!!!!
Grabbing coffee or medical emergency is YOUR problem not the rest of the world problem.
Yes they can make an exception.
But you DON’T expect any exceptions.
Two points; before leaving the gate area to administer the shot, could he not have alerted the gate agents about the emergency? Could he not have boarded and immediately gone to the bathroom and administered the shot there?
I agree he could’ve (should’ve) got on the plane. ofc hindsight is 20/20. I’ve been in similar situations (not medical thankfully) where I made the wrong split second decision.
I just love when people think they should be the exception to a fair rule and they are not.
And, by the way, what do you think happens if they’d reopen if you claim a medical excuse? Certainly, nobody running late would lie. Just like nobody faked service dogs or need for a wheelchair on WN.