July 18, 2012

Dear Delta Leadership Team:

I am writing regarding my horrible experience on Delta Flight 31 which was scheduled to leave JFK for San Francisco on Sunday, July 16th. I will spare you my detailed account of the 27 hour experience, but it included deplaning twice with two small children (18 months and 4 years old), being deprived of necessities for my children (my stroller, fresh milk), sitting for hours at a time on the runway in a plane with no air conditioning, spending the night on the floor, and being treated with a complete lack of respect from Delta employees. During this experience passengers were repeatedly lied to, provided false information, and kept in the dark about the situation.

As leaders of a company that prides itself on excellent customer service, you should be ashamed of the unprofessional and dishonest way this situation was handled by Delta employees. Not one person took responsibility to keep passengers informed of what was going on. Below are some highlights:

• We experienced three shift changes during which Delta agents gave conflicting information. (“We have pilots for the 5:30 a.m. flight.” “The 5:30 a.m. flight was delayed because we were unable to secure pilots.”)
• Individuals only learned of the 1:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. delays (Delta refused to cancel the flight) from the computer screen. At 4:00 a.m. when I inquired about the departure delayed message on the computer screen, I was assured by the Delta agent that the message was left over from the previous delay, and that the 5:30 a.m. flight would take off on time. 5 minutes later the computer screen was turned off.
• We were told that although the initial delay was due to a missing part, weather played a factor earlier in the evening. However, a midnight flight to SF left from Gate 4.
• When I repeatedly asked to speak to a supervisor, the response was often, “You just missed him,” or “He’s on his way.” During the 12 hours I spent waiting at Gate 5, I was not able to speak to one supervisor.
• The one person who was sent to answer questions was unfortunately not in a position to do so. Although he was sympathetic to our situation, he was not able to do anything, including retrieve my stroller for my 18 month old daughter after 7 hours of inquiring about it. He indicated the shame he felt in being lied to by his supervisors and having to relay those lies to passenger.
• After hours of being lied to, passengers were offered the choice to go to a hotel. However, at the time the Delta agent was unable to get a hold of someone to provide transportation. After learning that the hotel option was in mid-town Manhattan, I decided not to drag my two children there at 3:00 a.m.

It is simply unacceptable to treat your passengers and employees with such blatant disrespect.

I hope you decide to do that right thing and redeem your tarnished reputation. Below is a quote that you are no doubt familiar with from your founder C.E. Woolman. This quote serves as a much needed reminder of the principals Delta Airlines was founded on. I encourage you to honor Mr. Woolman’s legacy and vision for his company by taking responsibility for your actions.

"One thing is unchanged; a concept of customer service expressed in our slogan, Service and Hospitality from the Heart. We've always tried to put ourselves on the other side of the counter and treat our passengers as we would like to be treated. We believe that an airline has a responsibility to the public over and above the price of the airline ticket. We've tried to live up to that responsibility.” ~C.E. Woolman

If you have any integrity as a company and truly stand by your mission to provide excellent customer service, you will take responsibility for your actions by contacting every passenger from Delta Flight 31 on July, 16th, 2012 and offer a full refund of their ticket. Empty apologies are simply not enough for the inconvenience, discomfort, and disrespect that every passenger experienced. Until you do that, it is clear that Delta Airlines does not stand by its mission, and is simply a corporation that has its bottom line as its top priority.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Kristine Leunig
krisleunig@yahoo.com
(510) 225-8112