Can You Believe Delta's Attitude?

“When customers complain, don’t answer, just smile, and they will forget about it! That’s what my boss told me to do every time I get comments from flight passengers annoyed about the malfunctioning seats and video — which are never fixed no matter how many times we report them,” said a steward to me on a recent Delta flight from Copenhagen to New York. Even he was astounded by management’s insensitivity. He added, “No cabin crew wants to fly these planes because we know we are going to get disgruntled passengers.”

On my flight, the recline button did not recline the seats (you had to physically push them back), the footrest button did not ignite the footrest to rise and the movie’s video did not sync with its audio. And when the pilot called for seats to be put in an upright position, you needed help to physically pull the seat forward…an obvious safety threat.

Over the past month, I have now been on four separate flights with this defective equipment, which clearly hails from a time before the merger of Northwest and Delta, as one detects traces of the “NWA” logo in the front interior of the plane. By this time the older equipment should have either been repaired or replaced.

For business class passengers — or any passengers, for that matter — the price-value equation is out of whack. It also suggests a cavalier attitude about passenger safety. From a public relations standpoint, both the words and inaction make Delta’s management seem insensitive, unprofessional and irresponsible.

Management obviously needs training on how employees should address customers when equipment malfunctions. How about something like: “Please accept our apology. I know how inconvenient this is, and we will be at your side as necessary to assist passengers who are having issues with seating and video equipment. The equipment is due to be fixed on X date, and to make up for the lack of comfort you have had to experience, as a small token, you will receive a complimentary 20,000 frequent flyer miles if you alert our crew to these problems.”

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