I am Channeling Richard Dansky
This is the first draft of the letter I'm sending to Delta airlines for the debacle that was my return flight home from Gencon. I have never been so disgusted with an airline before.


Dear Sir or Madame,
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of flying Delta to various destinations with minimal trouble. Unfortunately, my last flight was anything but smooth. In fact, it has been the single worst experience of my life as an airline passenger (counting my experiences aboard Egypt Air and Alitalia).
On August 13th, 2006 (a Sunday), I was waiting for Flight 5297 for a 5:10 PM departure from JFK. The trouble started with the late arrival of my flight and its delayed departure to 6:40 PM. The flight was then left sitting on the tarmac for an additional hour and a half, aboard a plane with little air conditioning. It was uncomfortable.
At first we were told that the baggage handlers were still loading the plane, but then the pilot informed us that they’d exceeded Federal regulations for their hours on duty. We were then told to return to the terminal. What bothers me about the incident so far is that I feel we were being deliberately delayed on the tarmac because Delta/Comair already knew they were canceling flight 5297.
After returning to the terminal, we were told that the next available flight was 8:50 AM Monday morning from LaGuardia, and that it would take too long to fly in a crew from Comair’s headquarters in Cincinnati. The problem here is that 1) the FAA requires the airline to have standby crews ready to fly planes in case of this very thing, and 2) Delta was responsible for flying us out on the soonest flight available (regardless of whether it was with a competing airline, not the soonest Delta flight).
Regardless, we were given a voucher for one night at the Ramada, a measly $7 meal voucher that covered half the cost of a Ramada sandwich, and we were told that transportation would take us to LaGuardia the next morning. We were then told to proceed to Baggage claim to reclaim our luggage.
After that we were, for all intents and purposes… abandoned. Only half the passengers received their luggage, while the other half were told their luggage would arrive in Montreal. The staff manning the Delta Baggage Claim booth had no idea what was going on, and only a woman named Mary proved to be anywhere near helpful. She was kind enough to provide me and a couple of other people with toiletry kits for the evening.
Delta/Comair did not provide a representative to handle transportation to the Ramada or from the Ramada to LaGuardia. Instead, I and two other passengers were left to handle the arrangements for a group of people that spoke little English. We had to call the Ramada ourselves to send enough transportation enough to pick up a plane full of people. That was your job, not ours. We had to escort everyone on the Air Train to the proper pick-up point. That was your job, not ours. We had to wait 45 minutes before the first shuttle appeared. After that, I had to help a mother carry her luggage because her hands were full with an exhausted infant. Again, not my job, but one I did gladly because Delta had failed its customers.
Once at the Ramada, the staff proved rude and unwilling to help (for which Ramada will receive a separate letter). I had to interpret French into English for several passengers, I had to assist a mother with her baby up to her room. I had to help an Israeli mother and son who spoke very little English in getting a room and arranging their wake-up call. And, to add insult to injury, Ramada informed us that there was only one shuttle to reach LaGuardia, and it left at 5:00AM in the morning. The staff at the Ramada was unwilling to help us arrange for more shuttles. Nobody from Delta had called them to tell them an entire planeload of passengers would need transportation and Ramada refused to call Delta to clear the matter. This wasn’t my job, but I did it because Delta/Comair left us adrift.
As a passenger, I had to tell people to get up early to catch the shuttle. I myself gave up my shuttle seat for passengers who didn’t understand English or weren’t carrying money. I and several passengers paid out of our own pockets for a taxi to reach LaGuardia.
Upon reaching the Delta terminal at LaGuardia, I met with more problems. All international flights were being routed through two or three ticket agents, one of whom took her time to engage in lengthy conversations with coworkers between each ticket. She didn’t even notice when someone flagrantly cut past the entire line and went to her for help. People were late for flights and every five minutes, more people were being shuttled to the head of the line, pushing those of us already waiting for an hour, further back. The excuse I was offered there was that Summer is always busy. Well if you know Summer is always busy, then why doesn’t Delta hire more staff for their peak periods?
After finally clearing through security, I arrived at the gate to discover that Flight 5006 out of LaGuardia was further delayed. Again, we sat in a stifling airplane for over 40 minutes, waiting to take off.
Finally, once in Montreal, I had to fill out a form for my lost luggage and assist those passengers who needed help. My luggage arrived Tuesday when I was told it would arrive for Monday afternoon.
All in all, I am horribly dissatisfied with the service I received from Delta and from Comair. I acted as the passenger representative that Delta should have provided, and I refuse to accept any excuses concerning how this was a Comair matter. I purchased my ticket through Delta, therefore it was your responsibility to handle the situation and to ensure your passengers suffered the lest amount of duress, not the most.
I am sorry to say that this experience has left such a foul taste in my mouth that I may never hire your airline again. I am even considering registering this complain through the FAA Consumer Hotline.