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Seatbelts, please. Things might get bumpy tomorrow if you have Delta Air Lines reservations this summer.
Delta announced yesterday it’s proactively cutting about 100 daily flights during the July 1 to August 7 timespan.
“In recent months, we’ve made a number of adjustments to minimize disruptions and bounce back faster when challenges occur,” a statement read. “And that’s why we’ll be taking additional steps in the coming days and weeks to strategically decrease our flight schedule this summer.”
The service reductions affect “primarily…markets in the U.S. and Latin America that Delta frequently serves.”
Delta’s Chief Customer Experience Officer Allison Ausband notes several factors causing issues for Delta:
- Weather
- Air traffic control
- Vendor staffing
- An increase in COVID case rates leading to work absences
I suspect the pilot shortage has something to do with it, too. You might’ve heard a Delta flight to Kona was delayed nearly a full day for a few reasons — including one of its scheduled pilots not being fully qualified. (Whoops!)
So, I’m predicting we’ll see some big schedule changes tomorrow. For those who don’t know: Saturday is when Delta schedule changes go live. Flight numbers, aircraft swaps, departure and arrival times, and flights in general can be changed. (One of my flights for later this fall was canceled during a recent Schedule Change Saturday.)
You’re eligible for a complimentary itinerary change to something that better suits your needs if a Delta schedule change consists of at least one of these criteria:
- A delay of 120 minutes or more
- A change in the routing of a scheduled Delta flight which adds one or more stops to the original itinerary
- A change in equipment from Delta Mainline to Delta Connection carrier
- Any change that causes a misconnect
- If a flight cancels and no comparable or acceptable routing is available within 120 minutes
Source: Delta.
So, keep an eye tomorrow on your Delta reservations! Double-check your seating assignments, flight numbers, and departure and arrival times.
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I got 25k miles out of a 5 hour delay few weeks back from Delta.
Delta’s work force is very small comparing to AA and UA, they are particularly vulnerable to staff shortages. Yet, that didn’t stop them happily demanding removal of mask mandate. No mask, more sick employees, and massive delays.
They had our back with the mask mandate, it’s made travel so much more pleasant. It didn’t lead to more sick employees. Cases are rising everywhere, so you would expect more “sick” employees, if you can call sitting at home with no symptoms, only because you tested positive, being sick.
I was told by Delta that a change in flight number qualifies too, even if the times don’t change. I was able to use such change to get a free change that I wanted.
A flight number change is not a criteria for which a change can be made under the schedule change parameters. The bullets listed above in the text of the article are the correct.
Sometimes you can luck out with incorrect knowledge!
It is nice to know before.