Delta has announced that that it will stop blocking middle seats effective May 1st, but got a head start yesterday after 77 flights were cancelled and 209 delayed due to a pilot shortage. Adverse effects to the COVID-19 vaccine were also blamed, among other factors.
Delta Air Lines Easter Mass…Cancellations
Another holiday, another round of mass cancellations on Delta. First it was Thanksgiving. Then Christmas. Now Easter, after the airline that used to go months without cancelling a flight cancelled 77 flights yesterday.
A Delta spokesperson explained:
“Delta teams have been working through various factors, including staffing, large numbers of employee vaccinations and pilots returning to active status. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and the overwhelming majority have been rebooked for the same-travel day.”
To help fill the backlog, Delta is “temporarily” filling middle seats on flights that are operating if passengers are displaced.
I reached out to the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for a comment and was refereed to Delta’s statement.
But really, the answer is clear. The answer is a pilot shortage and the same old issue Delta experienced for the last two major holidays.
On Christmas Day, an ALPA spokesperson explained that the 2020 Delta fleet reductions, particularly the elimination of Boeing 777s and MD-80s, continue to create a staffing shortage, with “an unreasonable amount of pilots not in right seats at the right aircraft at the right time.”
He explained that for every 777 pilot displaced, 14-17 downline training events become necessary. 777 pilots were at the top of the pay scale. When Delta suddenly announced it would retire its 777 fleet earlier this year, it meant 777 pilots moved to the A350, some A350 pilots moved to the A330 or 767, 767 pilots moved to the 737, and so on. Since seniority is king, everyone had to move down to accommodate the displacement of senior pilots on the largest Delta jet. With a sustained backlog of training, the aircraft retirements and subsequent adjustments continue to render many pilots unable to work.
Today, the backlog remains, even as Delta continues to run training at maximum capacity. Pilots who are switching to a totally new aircraft type understandably require extensive training.
Increased schedules for the Easter holiday plus Delta’s seat blocking policy created a need for more pilots. Factor in a day in which some pilots reasonably wished to spend time with their families plus the side effects of a vaccine (I was a zombie for a day after my first jab) and the flight cancellations begin to make more sense.
CONCLUSION
Yesterday was another embarrassing day for Delta. Pilots are not retrained overnight and the lingering effects of Delta’s pandemic fleet retirements continue to take a toll almost a year later.
Was your Delta flight cancelled or delayed yesterday?
> Read More:
- Delta Blames COVID-19 For Thanksgiving Cancellations; Pilot Union Offers Counter-Narrative
- Delta’s Christmas Operational Meltdown Is A Familiar Tune
(H/T: View from the Wing // image: Delta)
So, today or tomorrow Delta will re-impose its seat-blocking policy through the end of the month. How is it unsafe to fly in a middle seat on Tuesday but not today or yesterday? Likewise, how is it unsafe to fly in a middle seat on April 30 but not April 1. Delta needs to get its game together. The airline has spent the last year paying scientists and PhDs to tell us, the customers, that it was unsafe and dangerous to fly in middle seats or sit next to someone in first-class. If that’s true, why did they lift the ban over the weekend and they are they lifting it again at the end of the month? Delta should take a lead from Air New Zealand and other international airlines by offering packages to block the middle seat or book a whole row of economy. That would be great on long-haul flights.
Agreed.
Is the any word if pax on flights with full middle seats received any sort of compensation? I understand Delta’s desire to get displaced passengers to their destination, but as hard as Delta markets have empty middle seats, if you had a passenger sitting next to you, you’d certainly feel like you didn’t get what you paid for.
Good question. I’ll find out.
I was on one of the flights in question on Sunday, 4/4/21. Passengers were not informed that middle seats would be filled until boarding began. No email or phone call in advance — not acceptable. When asked, the gate agent said that my family (two adults, three kids) could be rebooked for a flight on Wednesday — not acceptable.
If Delta’s policy of not filling middle seats is there to protect passengers’ health, then there is no justification for “temporarily” abandoning the same policy. It’s not like COVID-19 took the day off, suddenly making the cabin a safer place to sit with 130 strangers for three hours. And while this article points out that staffing problems may be the culprit, it also points out that the same shortage has been blamed for similar problems months ago. Delta is not learning from its mistakes — not acceptable.
I complained in person to the gate agent. I complained to the flight attendant (while acknowledging that the change was not her fault personally). I complained via Delta’s website. And I sent emails to Delta’s board of directors. So far, no response to my complaints and no compensation — not acceptable.
Thanks for sharing, Josh. Please keep us updated. I’d love to do a follow-up on Delta’s response.
Same will happen at AA as many pilots were furloughed and 757/767/ bug bus were sent to desert. AA has an ambitious summer schedule but we will see the same thing happening as their DFW flight academy is dysfunctional. AA management is only interested in destroying shareholder equity and implementing WOKE.
I am sitting on my second delta flight of the day and people are very upset, arguing with the FAs (why? not their fault)
So much for “killing grandma” huh
Here’s the text of the email Delta sent:
“We want to apologize to those of you who had a recent disappointing experience on Delta and found less room on board than you were expecting.
“Due to a handful of factors that ultimately impacted our ability to staff some of our flights and in the interest of getting our customers to their destinations as soon as possible during the very busy holiday weekend, in some cases, you might have been seated more closely together than had been planned when booking.
“We sincerely apologize and hope to welcome you back in the future for travel on Delta for an experience that meets or exceeds all of your expectations.”
So…in the interest of getting paying passengers to their destinations, Delta abandoned their concern for safety.
No compensation? That’s very cheap of Delta.