Delta Airlines: Fail, Rinse, Repeat
By now many of you have heard of the issues I’ve been dealing with for the past month with the illness of my son Trevor. He’s doing much better now and I was able to proceed with my plans for attending SQL Saturday Vancouver and the Microsoft MVP Summit.
That is, so long as Delta Airlines was going to let me.
I was scheduled to depart from Kalamazoo to Vancouver on 2/25/11 via Minneapolis at 7:20am. This would being me into Vancouver in time to attend the speaker function the day before speaking and more importantly, to ensure I’m physically present to speak at my assigned time. I received a notice the flight was cancelled the night prior due to weather.
Fast forward to the next day and another delay notice for cancellation of the flight. This time Delta would drop me off in Vancouver via Detroit and Minneapolis 5 hours *after* I was scheduled to speak. After a lengthy phone call I was able to get in only 2 hours after I was supposed to speak by flying through Detroit and Salt Lake City. A marked improvement but still a waste of a trip. However I already had the hotel and a ride lined up to the MVP Summit from Vancouver. I HAD to go.
Arriving at the airport in Kalamazoo I had the wise idea to pack my jacket and gloves into my checked bag so I wouldn’t have to carry it. End result? The first time an airline has ever lost my bags.
So here I sit on the train into town to my hotel. Wearing a light sweater after waiting 30 minutes in the snow. In a city I need not visit.
With my fuming hatred of Delta Airlines to keep me toasty warm even as Vancouver gets an unseasonably heavy snow.
*editors note: as of the next day I’m still waiting for my bag and it’s delaying heading into Seattle for the MVP Summit. I did buy a coat and thanks to the kindness of every local I met last night was able to enjoy the evening and forget, for a while, how much I detest the state of current air travel.