Delta Air Lines has revealed an unprecedented travel waiver over the July 4th holiday, as it utilizes every tool available to avoid an operational meltdown.
Delta Offers Generous Travel Waiver In Bid To Avert July 4th Meltdown
We’ve reached the peak of summer travel and with the July 4th holiday approaching, Delta is facing a number of hurdles:
- It still has insufficient staffing not only amongst pilots, but amongst many employee groups
- Leadership turnover has complicated key decision-making
- Off-duty pilots are picketing tomorrow over their contract, which ostensibly suggests they will be less willing to pick up extra duty assignments over the holiday
That alone may not be enough to severely disrupt operations, but one bad storm could be the perfect storm to unleash a meltdown. For right now at Delta (and Delta is hardly alone in this respect), there is virtually no slack in the operational rope to handle irregular operations.
Delta is wisely trying to cajole passengers with flexible travel plans to rebook now, perhaps at more convenient times or dates, by waiving change fees and fare differences on all tickets. It says:
Delta people are working around the clock to rebuild Delta’s operation while making it as resilient as possible to minimize the ripple effect of disruptions. Even so, some operational challenges are expected this holiday weekend. This unique waiver is being issued to give Delta customers greater flexibility to plan around busy travel times, weather forecasts and other variables without worrying about a potential cost to do so.
Delta is expected to carry customer volumes from Friday, July 1, through Monday, July 4, not seen since before the pandemic as people yearn to connect with the world.
Here are the details of the waiver:
- Applies for all travel booked to occur on July 1-4, 2022
- Fare difference waived as long as the travel takes place by July 8, 2022
- This waiver applies only to passenger with an original ticket issue date on or before June 28, 2022
Let’s take a simple example. Say you scheduled a July 4th flight from LAX to JFK at 9:00PM because it was cheaper (you’ll miss the fireworks after all). You can change that flight to July 6th at noon, even if the fare is several hundred dollars more expensive – you’ll just need space in the same cabin of service (not the same fare class).
You can also change to nonstop flights if you are booked on a connection as long as your origin and destination remain the same. For example, if you were flying from Los Angeles to Tampa via Atlanta, you could switch to a nonstop flight at no charge, as long as there is space.
CONCLUSION
Delta Air Lines is taking preventive steps to mitigate what could turn out to be the summer’s worst operational meltdown. With pilots upset and picketing, staffing will be even more stretched. If your travel plans are flexible, do consider taking advantage of this broad wavier.
image: Delta
Guess they shouldn’t have canned so many valuable employees for refusing all the jabs?
United may have — Delta did not TMK. You have proof otherwise?
Out of the big 4 they were the only airline that didn’t even entertain the idea of firing unvaxxed until the proposal became law (which it didn’t), but they did downsize staff in general, which is why they are where they are right now.
They may have not fired but they did influence and force some hands. I’m sure the entertained the idea, as well.
Delta says more employees have gotten vaccinated after announcing a penalty for those who are unvaccinated. Delta didn’t mandate a shot, but in August it did subject unvaccinated workers to a US$200 per month health insurance surcharge. Yet the airline said fewer than 2% of employees have quit over the policy.
I’m sure they entertained*
Sadly idiots are also allowed to have the names “James”
Not sure how this helps. Can’t be many out there willing to change their plans for days on that chance that their original flight will be cancelled.
The numbers taking them up on this will be minuscule.
It helps because it cuts down on customer service requests. Passengers can make any change they want, even to a MORE desirable flight, for any reason, without agent intervention or approval. No need to call Delta for any change you want to make as long as space is available at any fare within the validity period.
not sure it cuts down on CX. If there is significant IRROP then the shockwave/ripples through the system might not even be resolved by the July 8th deadline
Cue Delta apologist Tim Dunn, to try put a positive spin on this S-fest.
He doesn’t even post here, I swear this Tim Dunn guy has the biggest fanbase.
You called? This is great news from Delta. Delta continually leads the way and shows that it respects its customers.
I have travel coming up soon and i hope i get bumped with hefty compensation.
Let me think…
Voluntarily inconvenience myself now…or…try for one of those $10,000 prepaid visa thingies at the gate.
Hmmm… Think think think think….
Yeah, just grab the phone and give Delta a call. If you’re lucky, you might get through to an agent before the waiver expires.
Good one, Jerry. You should include that bit in your act.
I suspect part of the reason they did a systemwide waiver is that this is now programmed into self-service flight change options. You don’t have to call and ask, you can just hit change flight on the website or app and do just about anything within the validity period, no questions asked. Massively cuts down on people needing to call in or see an agent.
Delta took billions in taxpayer bailouts with the express goal of not eliminating a single employee but still managed to eliminate 30,000+ employees. As a result, the best legacy domestic airline pre-pandemic has been unable to cope with travel during the pandemic and post-pandemic. Maybe they should be less woke and more operational-focused. As a Diamond Medallion and 2 Million Miler, I haven’t been able to do a same-day change in three months even on paid first-class tickets. This waiver would be great for me except it’s such a narrow window that it does me no good. Take today as an example. Paid first-class. Same-day change showed ZERO OPTIONS even though both Delta.com and the Delta mobile app showed plenty of one-way, first-class availability. Likewise, Delta claimed elites who legitimately re-qualified for status during the pandemic would have a higher upgrade priority than elites whose status was extended out of courtesy. Except, this has never been done. I have went from No. 1 or No. 2 on the upgrade list before and during the pandemic to No. 5 or No. 10.
Wah wah wah
I’m glad I’m not the only DM (just 1 MM) that feels this way. It’s been a very tough year.
This waiver is useless since you won’t find availability in a later day flight. I used to standby a lot since meetings get canceled or end earlier and almost always got into different flights. Impossible this year. I was in Denver over the weekend and my son was playing a soccer tournament so I was watching flights since depending on the match results they would be eliminated or move forward in the competition. Not a single flight was available. All completely sold out. So a waiver with no other flights having seats available is the same as nothing. Delta has gone downhill since the pandemic. I had flights canceled, delayed, oversold, etc…. No good at all.
Remember when Delta used to brag that they never canceled a mainline flight… and used to complain about government subsidies for airlines (ie, the Middle Eastern ones)? How things have changed.
So this is basically a car dealership offering an exchange policy on any vehicle with a few days, but when you decide you want a different one they tell you, “Sorry no other cars available in the time allowed.”
This is one of those examples of “if your promises amount to nothing it’s better to offer nothing.” Meanwhile, the American taxpayer is left shaking their heads and checking their wallets to see if they stole any more.
I think your analogy is exactly right. But seriously, what is the point of them even doing this if affected itineraries show no alternatives?
This is ALL a consequence of the wild overreaction to Covid-19.
There will be pain for years…. and all for a phantom boogieman..
ALL because governments decided they needed to ‘do something’
This entire travel mess lays at the feet of central government experts.
It’s unreal that there aren’t tribunals and all of these politicians aren’t lined up and shot.
Instead, most people on the internet still cheer their overlords – ignoring the science and data that shows they failed.
Dean in Stockholm
Dean I had a long reply to show just how wrong you are but I think just saying that you are an idiot troll will suffice. So Dean, you are an idiot troll.
Thank goodness Pete has it all under control. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Nk_89o9J8
Oh yes, it’s all Pete’s fault, lol. As well, Canada and Europe. He is solely responsible for the global meltdown of the entire airline industry. I heard there was a cancellation on Kenya Airways yesterday from Nairobi to London…Pete again, if only he would do his job.
I didn’t say it was all his fault, I said he has it under control. But now that you mention it though, is he qualified for this role? Hell no.. and everyone can see that.
Mmmhmm, sure. And what would you like him to do? Wave a magic wand and make the booboo go away over night? Get real, Princess. It’s global, everyone is dealing, everyone is just trying to make it through the summer first.
There is always opportunity for improvement for anyone, including him. He hasn’t done much besides paternity leave. But if there was a republican in the position you’d be saying they should do this and that.. how about criticizing both sides for once? It’s fine if you’re a Mayor Pete fan, but some of us see through him. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/22/south-bend-poor-say-democrat-pete-buttigieg-left-them-behind.html
I totally agree, this entire thing was a complete failure. Including the vaccine which does not even stop the spread. So why mandate? Oh I get it, it is all about control over people’s bodies.
“unprecedented waiver”
*Describes everyday policy at Southwest airlines*
Just because Delta isn’t to doing this doesn’t mean it’s unprecedented.
SWA doesn’t charge a fare difference? thought they did
That’s not true at all. Southwest does not charge change fees. No legacy airline does right now, except on basic economy tickets. Here, no fare difference applies. Huge distinction.