Hundreds of thousands of people read our post last week about a Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Diamond Medallion elite status holder who paid over $7,500 for a Delta One (business class) roundtrip to Honolulu, Hawaii, only to be told he needed to downgrade to Main Cabin.
Wayne Frongello, the passenger, reported that a Delta gate agent in Atlanta informed him he needed to move to coach because the in-flight entertainment system (IFE) screen at his Delta One seat was inoperative.
A source familiar with Delta’s policies tells me that is not the airline’s rule.
“It’s not Delta policy to do that if the actual seat is still useable. Delta is supposed to give the passenger the option to downgrade or keep their seat,” the person told Eye of the Flyer. “But not involuntarily downgrade them.” (Bold mine.)
The source added that a flight attendant would have to manually brief the passenger about safety procedures. (I would be the most attentive passenger ever if I had a flight attendant performing a safety demonstration for only me!)
Mr. Frongello held his ground and the gate agent relented. When he boarded the plane and got to his Delta One seat, the IFE screen worked just fine, thankyouverymuch.
So, what the heck? We have our theories about why Mr. Frongello was told to pound sand and take the $7500+ dollar walk of shame to coach. Commenters weighed in and offered some interesting ideas about why the situation occurred. (Interesting good and interesting bad. Like, can we please stop blaming Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and their respective supporters for everything?)
Here are some of the better, more realistic takes. Which do you think is the case?
“Shena”
“Shena” or “Delta Shenanigans” is nothing new. Perhaps the gate agent wanted to get Mr. Frongello out of the Delta One seat — and then give it to a friend, family member or perhaps a coworker traveling on their flight privileges. Many readers felt this was the reason — and citied their own claims of experiencing this on other occasions. From the get-go, this is what we thought was the reason. It’s happened to both Rene and me multiple times.
Incorrect Maintenance Status
Maybe this was all an honest-to-goodness mistake.
Some people suggested the IFE was actually broken at some point close to boarding time (What are the odds?! 😉 ). Then someone repaired the equipment — and that’s where our situation really starts.
“Bea” wrote, “It’s possible that the entertainment system at this particular seat was repaired during the hours the plane was in Atlanta before boarding but the mechanic(s) neglected to sign off on it or the agent was not informed of the repair. The agent should have checked with the captain before denying boarding. However, it’s likely when the agent told the passenger about the downgrade, the pilots had not yet gotten onboard.”
But, still, it’s apparently NOT Delta’s policy to force passengers to downgrade to coach for an inoperative IFE screen.
Federal Air Marshal
A couple of readers — “theenglishrider” and “FirstInFlight” wondered if perhaps a Federal Air Marshal showed up and needed the seat.
What’s the gate agent supposed to do? Say to a passenger, “Hey, we need your seat because an undercover law enforcement officer will sit there. Please don’t tell anyone else that person is a cop!”? So, the agent would need to come up with something to explain the issue.
But Mr. Frongello was, of course, ultimately able to take his seat. So, I doubt this one.
Something Else?
Do you have any other ideas?
Is There Any Compensation Due?
Should Mr. Frongello receive anything from Delta for his time and trouble? After all, he got the seat and service he paid for. But not without an unnecessary argument.
A rogue Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) Delta gate agent originally decided to not upgrade my family to First Class because we traveled with a child. (This was his practice, he told me. So, who knows how many passengers missed their upgrades.) When I called Delta to ask if this was a new policy, the horrified Medallion rep voluntarily gave my wife and me 20,000 SkyMiles each. I wasn’t expecting anything — but certainly appreciated the gesture.
What do you think?
Share Your Thoughts!
So, what’s the most logical explanation of this situation? Should there be any sort of compensation due? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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OMG!!! Feel sorry for the passenger…. They should have given his total $7500 and a free ticket anywhere with hotel stay…. How crazy that was!!! Delta needs to get their act together!!!!
I recently had a LH flight to Rio in C with two broken seats. The two employees flying on their privilege tickets had to take them. No discussion that a revenue passenger should suffer while they enjoy a 90% discount ticket.
The same applied to them for the meal service – they were served last even sitting in row 1 and had to take what was still available (once their preferred selection was not available anymore)
For their internal fare it was still a great deal compared to traveling in Y
Welcome to the world of staff travel. I would be certain that not a peep was uttered by the staff members either. They would have had their travel privileges suspended. As far as meals are concerned, staff are routinely asked last, and told what they’re getting unless there happens to be a choice left. System working as designed!
Had it been known the seats were inoperative at the gate, staff would not have beeb boarded into those seats. They would have remained empty.
I have had the experience with Delta for a 7+ hour international flight where I paid for a Premium Economy seat, the IFE was broken and the option I was given was to downgrade to Economy or deboard and contact customer care for options.
Excuse my acronym but WTF?! Your column title says “Why a Paying Delta Passenger Was Told to Downgrade to Coach: We Think We Know Why!” You just spouted a bunch of “theories” about what others think might have happened. You said “WE think we know why” You didn’t give one original idea why?
In fact, you have NO idea why…
Geez.. this really is one of the worst click bait titles I have seen in a long time.
@Partrick – Did you even read the post? Chris got an insiders quote stating the official Delta rules is NOT to downgrade a passenger over IFE (new). We then, since Delta Corp. Will not say, used deductive reasoning to point to the most likely cause!
Why are you even on here. This is a fine discussion. Move on if you don’t like it.
“From the get-go, this is what we thought was the reason. It’s happened to both Rene and me multiple times.”
That’s what we think happened. And I explain Delta Shena in the same paragraph as to what the gate agent’s motivation could’ve been.
If is this “one of the worst click bait titles,” would you please give me some examples of the best click bait titles? Please make sure to provide links to the stories. I always enjoy learning.
For someone who is a DIAMOND Medallion Status AND paid $7,500, they definitely deserve some type of compensation. At the very least, maybe a companion travel certificate. He’s shown significant loyalty to Delta, they should reciprocate!
I have a couple of Delta One reservations to Europe coming in next few months. Should I be thinking I could get bumped to the back by gate agent? Delta, comments and/or assurances that this was an unauthorized exception?
I wouldn’t worry about it until it happens. I think this was a rare exception.
I’ve flown Delta One many times and never had or even personally seen this happen, so, no, I wouldn’t be worried about it. (Also, I haven’t seen any evidence that such shenanigans are more common at Delta than at any other carrier.)
“Federal Air Marshall
A couple of readers — “theenglishrider” and “FirstInFlight” wondered if perhaps a Federal Air Marshall showed up and needed the seat.”
Hey Chris – – –
There is only one “L” in Marshal. Check it out! “Marshal”
Ugh, duh. Thanks for the reminder. It’s correct now.
More to the point, who’d pay $7500 to fly to Hawaii even in DeltaOne?!
@DavidB – Because they can and like what Delta offers?
A pilot needed the seat due dead-heading issues (they are contractually obligated), but after encountering added challenges they put them on a different flight.
This is a possibility, though they would normally pick the lowest-priority passenger to downgrade, which would normally be someone traveling on a complimentary or RUC/GUC upgrade or at least a discount fare with no status, not a Diamond who paid $7.5k.
Involuntary downgrade instances should trigger an automatic review by someone at HQ, though. If and when actual shenanigans (as opposed to legitimate things like air marshals or flight crew needing the seat) are encountered, it should be at least docked pay if not automatic termination. This is straight-up theft of services. Stealing can and should get you fired in any industry.
I still go with Shena. The fact that Delta has not contacted you with an official explanation reinforces this position. I think this was an inept or new GA who backed down after he realized he picked on the wrong customer to downgrade. A more seasoned GA might have said the seat was broken (instead of the IFE) as the excuse. True story: I was on a flight once where a near brawl took place after takeoff among 4 non revs over 2 seats in D1. The 2 most senior non Revs (and at the top of the list) thought they would be getting the 2 D1 seats available, but didn’t. Two D1 seats were declared broken by the flight crew, so no one got them – until after the door closed. The the FA’s brought 2 of their non rev friends not at the top of the list up front to those seats. Then two at the top of the list who missed out on those seats came charging up to lodge a complaint to no avail. After the door was closed, the flight crew (not the GA or the upgrade list) were in control, and the flight crew put 2 of their (young and probably not much seniority) in those seats. I would love to have found out how the complaints worked their way through the Delta system and if anyone got punished.
As a former gate agent, I am guessing that perhaps ops didn’t update the agent the seat/equipment was repaired. And if it were a LEO on board, surprised they would have downgraded a full fare pax.
If I were Delta, I would personally reach out to the pax and try and make it right. Just not good business to do something like this to a full fare pax.
Welcome to the world of staff travel. I would be certain that not a peep was uttered by the staff members either. They would have had their travel privileges suspended. As far as meals are concerned, staff are routinely asked last, and told what they’re getting unless there happens to be a choice left. System working as designed!
Had it been known the seats were inoperative at the gate, staff would not have beeb boarded into those seats. They would have remained empty.
Perhaps I’m missing something but the headline for the story states, “We think we know why”! Did I miss it or did you not state why? Seems kind of like when someone approaches another person and asks, “do you know what time it is.” And the response is, “yes”.
“Perhaps the gate agent wanted to get Mr. Frongello out of the Delta One seat — and then give it to a friend, family member or perhaps a coworker traveling on their flight privileges…From the get-go, this is what we thought was the reason. It’s happened to both Rene and me multiple times.”
I’m DM/2MM/D360 (home airport MSN) and fly D1 all the time, and I’ve never seen this happen. The only time I’ve seen anyone involuntarily downgraded is when there is an equipment change and the aircraft has fewer seats in J.
I recently flew Virgin Atlantic from New York to London in Upper Class. When I boarded the plane the stewardess [sorry I am elderly] told me that the tray table at my seat was broken and she hoped the check-in agent had told me about it, so that if I wanted I could seek to change my seat. No, I said I did not know but as it was a night flight that I intended to sleep thru, it did not bother me. Fine, she said would you like points or a duty free voucher? That was first class proactive customer service!
I would like to point out that the agent who didn’t give you an upgrade because you were travelling with your spawn should be promoted immediately. This should be the norm. I don’t pay for F to deal with your poor life decisions…
“Poor life decisions”? You’re the one spending weekend time trolling a blogger loves his family.