A Delta Connection flight delayed nearly an hour for a single passenger is raising serious questions, especially amid claims that the traveler had a powerful connection.
Did SkyWest Delay A Delta Flight For The CEO’s Daughter?
This story flooded my social media feed over the weekend and I see that other bloggers have now covered it. Indeed, it’s the kind of story that immediately strikes a nerve.
A Delta Connection flight from Salt Lake City (SLC) to St. George (SGU), operated by SkyWest, was delayed by roughly an hour last week. Weather or mechanical delays may be common, but flight was delayed for a different reason.
According to multiple passengers onboard, the aircraft was held for a single late-arriving traveler. And not just any traveler.
Passengers claim the delay stretched close to an hour, longer than the actual flight time itself.
There’s more. One passenger says he was even asked to give up his first class seat for the late-arriving traveler, with crew members repeatedly apologizing and appearing visibly uncomfortable.
SkyWest, for its part, issued a statement acknowledging that the delay “was longer than it should have been,” but stopped short of explaining why.
“While we regularly hold flights for late connecting customers if operations allow; the time spent onboard in Salt Lake City awaiting departure of flight 4279 to St. George on Thursday night was lengthier than it should have been. We apologize to our customers for their experience.”
SkyWest Didn’t Deny It…
Isn’t it interesting that SkyWest never denied that this involved the CEO’s daughter? (SkyWest CEO Russell “Chip” Childs has four children and lives in St. George).
If this were simply a case of operational necessity or multiple delayed passengers, you’d expect a clean, unequivocal statement. Instead, the airline essentially said, “yes, the delay was excessive,” and left it there…a non-denial.
So I’m going to take the same view many others have: if SkyWest had a better explanation, we would have heard it by now.
This Was A Delta Flight, Not SkyWest’s To Play With
One Mile At A Time correctly identifies one of the problems here: this wasn’t a SkyWest-branded flight. It was a Delta flight, sold to Delta customers, under the Delta Connection banner. SkyWest was simply the subcontractor.
The delay suggests a regional partner delayed a Delta flight, full of Delta passengers, for a personal favor. That’s not just bad optics, but breakdown in how these partnerships are supposed to work.
Delta should be asking serious questions here.
The Bigger Problem: Rules For Some, Not For Others
Airlines hold flights all the time. Sometimes it’s even the right call when it involves tight connections, last flights of the night, irregular operations.
But holding a flight for nearly an hour for one passenger? That’s not normal. And everyone in this space knows it.
What makes this story resonate is something deeper. It reinforces a perception that a certain class of traveler plays by a different set of rules. After all, you’re not getting a plane held for you and I’m not getting a plane held for me.
And I definitely can’t hold a flight if my wife is running late (which, for the record, she always is 😉).
CONCLUSION
We may not have full confirmation of what happened, but we do have a telling response from SkyWest, consistent passenger accounts, and a situation that simply doesn’t lead to another viable possibility.
Maybe there’s an explanation that clears all of this up, but I would have thought that SkyWest would have offered it by now.
Until it does, this looks exactly like what people think it is: a powerful insider bending the rules while everyone else sits and waits. That’s unaccepfbtale to Delta but it also reinforces the notion that the rich and well-connected play by a different set of rules.
image: SkyWest
I prefer your choice of title, Matt. Gary went full-Delta bashing. Ben focused on SkyWest, without any Delta mention. It’s ironically more a SkyWest than Delta issue, but, for laypersons, it’s a Delta livery (and marketed) flight, so… Let’s be clear, it wasn’t Ed calling in a favor; it was Childs’s child.
This is indeed a thought-provoking situation! It will certainly ignite debates over airline power, privilege and passenger rights.
A skillfully chosen photograph that perfectly complements the article!
Note that OO’s response to these accusations is quite interesting. While they acknowledge the delay, they neither confirm nor deny the passenger’s identity. This vague statement leaves room for speculation and casts doubt on the airline’s transparency and airline ethics in general.
And I definitely can’t hold a flight if my wife is running late (which, for the record, she always is ). → To the attention of Mrs. Heidi Klint!
If they would have held it for one of us, then OK. If they would have held it for a high-status pax, OK. But, if it was the daughter, she’s not high status (in a earned sense).
Our resident Deltoid is conspicuous in his absence.
No need to get upset. This is just Delta showing what a premium airline they are to REALLY premium passengers. For the rest… let them eat cake.