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Grand Rapids, Michigan was clearly the place to be on Monday.
More details are emerging about Delta Air Lines offering passengers $10,000 each yesterday for them to not travel on a flight from Grand Rapids to Minneapolis.
(A Delta spokesperson, by the way, confirmed to us that happened.)
Inc.’s Jason Aten was a passenger on SkyWest flight 3550 from GRR to MSP. (The trip was marketed by Delta as a Delta Connection flight.) Based on his report, the flight was oversold and Delta needed volunteers to stay behind in exchange for compensation.
Mr. Aten tweeted the opening offer was $5,000. I think the highest initial offer I ever personally heard was $1,000. But five grand? Whoa, Nellie. Things escalated from there. He wrote the ante climbed to $7,500 during the boarding process. When the plane was pretty full is when Delta went to the nuclear option and offered $10,000.
They apparently started at $5k and were offering $7,500 during boarding. Then came offered $10k once most people had boarded.
— Jason Aten (@JasonAten) June 28, 2022
It sounds like eight people took the offer. One of our blog’s readers commented that Visa gift cards were offered. Mr. Aten said Apple Pay was an option. (‘If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now,” a rep apparently told passengers.)
“Yes, $10,000 is a lot of money,” Mr. Aten said in his article, “but it was clearly better than forcing eight people to miss their connections and ruining their plans.”
So, how long did those passengers have to wait for the next flight? Well, they might still be in Grand Rapids.
Wednesday is apparently when the next flight with a confirmed seat was available.
One person came back on board and said they couldn’t have accommodated him until Wednesday.
— Jason Aten (@JasonAten) June 28, 2022
Now, of course, the passengers who accepted the $10,000 might have enjoyed some paid “airport appreciation” time for a couple of days and hoped to get on as standbys. Or maybe they’re enjoying the lovely Grand Rapids area and its attractions. (Or hiding from their family and friends while enjoying their newfound ten thousand bucks. Not that I would ever do that. Or dream of doing something like turning off my phone after booking a two-day trip to Vegas during which I stay at a five-star resort and eat at Joël Robuchon and Guy Ramsay Steak and play blackjack all night before flying back to Grand Rapids. Nope. Not me.)
Sadly, Mr. Aten’s family of six couldn’t help liberate Delta of $60,000.
“We did not take it for reasons I’m not going to get into because my wife is still not pleased about it,” he said.
Final Approach
It sounds like Delta Air Lines dished out a total of $80,000 across eight passengers so they’d stay behind and take later flights. (Which may have been as much as two days later.)
This is definitely a very rare occurrence. I wouldn’t get my hopes up about Delta paying $10,000 (or anything close to that) for volunteers to stay behind.
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That is awful. So Delta spends $80,000 to 8 people and then raise fares on all of us. That makes ZERO BUSINESS SENSE. Deny boarding and youll get hit for double the fare up to $775. HORRIBLE MOVE BY THE OPS AGENT THAT SCREWS ALL OF US.
I take it you’re a Delta or contractor employee?
not at all. Im an Alaska MVP G100K, United 1K, and Southwest A List Preferred. Delta management should be ashamed for doing that. $80K hit to the P/L when at max they would have paid $6,200???? That’s financial malpractice.
Wow, you got some status!
But, hey, perhaps a few taxpayers got back some money the government gave Delta? 🙂
Sure if you are one of the 8. But If I was a Delta shareholder, employee, or ANY other passenger on Delta I would be furious. That $80,000 will be recouped from all of us when Delta wonders at the end of the Quarter where the $80K went. The pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction of airlines not wanting to have ANY bad PR that they do absolutely stupid things.
Y si usted no viaja en Delta cuál es su problema pierde algo?
(And if you don’t travel on Delta, what is your problem, do you lose something?)
The Great Lakes are lovely this time of year and the $10K would cover time at a waterfront beach house and all the local craft beer you could drink until Delta could get you on another flight.
For $10k I’d hire an Uber for the trip and pocket the rest.
I can think of many ways I would put that to good use for my family.
With school starting in seven weeks, so can we.
I’m old enough to remember when $10,000 was a lot of money…
I’m currently on a Delta flight that paid me $1700 plus hotel, cab fare and two meals to change my flight from 9:30p last night to 8:30a this morning. Literally typing this like the fat cat that I am at 30K feet today.
Dang. Personally, I think I’d have taken the offer and just had them change me to a flight out of DTW instead. I’d drive 2.5 hours for $10k… Or even $5k.