Delta Air Lines

I’ve flown Delta Air Lines for a number of years and, while I’ve always received what I believe to be good service, I’ve never had a flight I’d call exceptional.

Most recently, I took a one-way flight from Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) home to San Diego. The flight was scheduled for just under eight hours with a 45-minute layover in Minneapolis. The weather out of D.C. wasn’t exactly favorable as we were looking at icy conditions, so I was a bit surprised when we began boarding on time.

Unfortunately, they had issues de-icing the plane. Rather than allow us to wait in the terminal, we were forced to sit on the place, which was not well heated, for nearly an hour. Suffice to say, when we finally did take-off we were so far behind schedule there was no way to make my connecting flight.

The flight attendants were pleasant and apologetic, and I kind of felt bad for them because a lot of other passengers were visibly upset. I wasn’t sitting in first class, so I only had a Coke during the flight and no food.

Upon arrival in Minneapolis, I was directed to an attendant to see about getting on the next flight. I was put on a list along with 13 other passengers for an open spot on the next flight to San Diego. I waited almost three hours, as I was one of the last to arrive at the attendant’s desk.

On a positive note, they managed to get me on a flight and upgraded me to first class due to a no-show. The service on the second flight was excellent and I was offered free food and alcohol. I partook.

I finally arrived hours after I planned. Since I was only returning home, it wasn’t such a big deal and I appreciated their efforts to get me on a new flight ASAP. The only issue I had was their refusal to let us wait in the terminal when it was so cold on the plane. I felt de-icing the plane is something they should’ve been on top of rather than waiting until the last minute, and there was not much excuse for keeping us sitting in single-digit temperatures if we had an extra hour to spare.