ronhoon's Blog

Let's run through the list of problems Delta Airlines has had in the last few days.

First, there is the still unexplainable holding of passengers on board an aircraft for SEVEN HOURS.  This is after virtually every airline promised it wouldn't keep passengers trapped on board planes any longer.  That was at JFK, and a spokesman for the airline said they had no idea why it happened...other than a thunderstorm in Las Vegas.  Still waiting for an explanation from the pilot...I guess.  But it's not hard to pull the plane up to a gate and let people off.

Then there's the story about the lady who ended up dead in the restroom of a Delta flight.  This was an overnight flight from LA to Atlanta.  It's still unexplained why the flight attendants didn't check to see why the restroom was in use during final approach and landing.  But after all that, they went to go look, and found the woman dead.

The capper is the new policy that charges the poor guy whose traveling with a lot of luggage.  By the time you get to a third bag on Delta now, they'll charge you $125.  Add the $50 for the second bag (OK, it's true they don't charge for the first), and you're at $175 each way.  Do the math on that one:  That's $350 per round trip.  That could be more than the cost of the ticket to fly there in the first place.

Compare this to Southwest.  Somehow they fly people all over the country without charging for luggage.  And, as opposed to Delta, and virtually all the other airlines, they make a profit.

Looking at the one time industry leader (I put Delta in that group along with American and United), is it any wonder the whole airline business is in trouble?