It goes without saying that this is a pretty messy summer for travel, especially in the United States and Europe. We’re seeing massive demand for leisure travel, combined with staff shortages at many airports and airlines.
Just about all major US airlines are going to be put to the test over the July 4th holiday, as we’ll likely see the highest passenger numbers we’ve seen in well over two years. However, it’s looking like Delta’s operation may be especially unreliable.
In this post:
Delta’s July 4th travel waiver
Airlines will often issue travel waivers when operational disruptions are expected, including due to weather, strikes, etc. This allows customers to change their flights without a fare difference, and minimize disruptions.
Delta has just issued a travel waiver for July 1-4, 2022, allowing customers to rebook their trips to before or after those “challenging weekend travel days” with no fare difference or change fees. This applies as long as customers travel between the same origin and destination, and travel needs to be completed by July 8, 2022.
Here’s how Delta describes the logic for this travel waiver:
Delta people are working around the clock to rebuild Delta’s operation while making it as resilient as possible to minimize the ripple effect of disruptions. Even so, some operational challenges are expected this holiday weekend. This unique waiver is being issued to give Delta customers greater flexibility to plan around busy travel times, weather forecasts and other variables without worrying about a potential cost to do so.
Delta is expected to carry customer volumes from Friday, July 1, through Monday, July 4, not seen since before the pandemic as people yearn to connect with the world.
What should we make of Delta’s travel waiver?
As mentioned, it’s unusual to see an airline issue a travel waiver without a specific reason, other than “operational challenges” being expected.
On the one hand, one could argue that this is just generally a good business decision, given that airlines no longer have change fees on most fares. Delta is offering to rebook passengers on less peak days without a fare difference, freeing up seats on peak days. “Hey, we’ll let you fly on a cheaper day, and we won’t even charge you” isn’t a terrible idea, right?
But I imagine there’s more to this story, and Delta isn’t just trying to trick consumers into rebooking expensive tickets on less expensive dates.
Pre-pandemic, Delta was known for being the most operationally reliable major US airline. The airline even used to market itself as “the on-time machine.” Unfortunately the pandemic has changed that greatly.
Yes, of course Delta has dealt with staffing shortages (like all other airlines), but it’s also my understanding that the airline lost a lot of senior leaders during the pandemic who oversaw operations and scheduling, and that’s contributing to these issues.
It’s anyone’s guess how bad things will be for Delta over the July 4th holiday. Delta had the most cancelations of any major US airline over the Memorial Day holiday, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen again. The question is whether just a few percent of flights are canceled, or if things are much worse than that.
It’s also worth pointing out that Delta pilots will be picketing at major hubs on Thursday, June 30, 2022, to protest drawn out contract negotiations. Delta pilots are doing this during their time off, so this absolutely isn’t a strike. However, I’d expect this also means that most Delta pilots won’t be pitching in and picking up extra trips to keep Delta’s operation running smoothly.
Bottom line
Delta has issued a pretty unprecedented travel waiver for the July 4th holiday, suggesting that the airline will be experiencing major operational challenges. It remains to be seen how bad things will be, but I’d certainly not count on Delta running a reliable operation in the coming days.
Just about all US airlines will be put to the test over July 4th, so I’m curious to see how bad things get. Will Delta actually be worse than other US carriers, or is the airline just being more conservative?
What do you make of Delta’s travel waiver? Do you think we’ll see a meltdown, or is Delta just being cautious?
I'm not sure how to waiver to July 8th helps anyone? Normal working folks need to travel on a weekend, not take a couple random days off in the middle of a week with less than a week's notice.
If they made it a travel waiver until next year, then great, that's in earnest and can help people vacation at other times. But an extra 4 weekdays ... give me a break. This is wanting to have your cake and eat it too.
That is designed for people with travel flexibility. Its not designed for everyone.
Air Canada has just sent out an email preempting travel disruptions. I hope my flights are not cancelled
4Chan hasn't taught you much about economics has it.
Even if you've got gripes with Biden - because he had the audacity to keep the economy of out a pandemic nose dive - the homophobic swipes at Buttigieg are uncalled for. You do realize this a gay-run blog, right?
Just a couple of points:
1) Biden didn't keep the economy out of a pandemic nose dive. Trump did that. Biden drove it into recession with his out of control spending and anti US energy policies
2) It's irrelevant if the Sec of Transportation is gay or straight. What is relevant is that a Cabinet Secretary took time off while the transportation and supply chain were collapsing. That's not what a leader does.
Ditto
Gay reader here. What about the comment was homophobic? Pete took a job that urgently required leadership, immediately took mommy leave, and then shamed the public when they questioned the soundness of his judgment. Please refrain from calling out homophobia where none exists - it's a bad look for all of us.
Are you trolling, or still over-drunk tipsy? 4Chin That has nothing to do with the staffing problems. You can easily blame the airlines for creating conditions where pilots and other staff would be better off not returning.
This is a good example of opportunity to buy an insurance when your house is on the verge of burning.
Flight tomorrow at 7 am to PBI from LGA. Canceled at 3 today with no reason given. It’s starting.
Operations are a mess everywhere if you are trying to get to a wedding or weekend trip and can swing it a day earlier or later, it's a pro-consumer approach to make sure you can get to their destination. I'm sure they are already modeling out staffing levels and increasing COVID cases; they know flights will be canceled.
This indicates airlines are no longer reliable when the weather is fine and all systems are go. The past few years have been a flashback of issues from the late 1990s - 2000 when you just hoped you got to your destination or back home. By the way, this was happening prior to the pandemic as well too. 2007 it was happening as well too. It's really sad when you have to shave off two...
This indicates airlines are no longer reliable when the weather is fine and all systems are go. The past few years have been a flashback of issues from the late 1990s - 2000 when you just hoped you got to your destination or back home. By the way, this was happening prior to the pandemic as well too. 2007 it was happening as well too. It's really sad when you have to shave off two days of vacation because the airline can't accommodate and we rebook you a day or two later. I remember a time when flights eventually took off, they weren't just cancelled at the drop of a hat. Maybe if airlines paid staff more they'd have staff that would do "whatever it takes" to make it happen.
You do realize that aircraft in the US do not move until ATC allows them to do so.
You might want to overlay cancellations against ATC delays - all of that information is available online - before you make judgments about who is fault.
Airlines need to have staff to deal w/ known and predictable levels of weather delays but ATC delays are far longer and more frequent than they were before.
...
You do realize that aircraft in the US do not move until ATC allows them to do so.
You might want to overlay cancellations against ATC delays - all of that information is available online - before you make judgments about who is fault.
Airlines need to have staff to deal w/ known and predictable levels of weather delays but ATC delays are far longer and more frequent than they were before.
The entire time I have been commenting on this thread today, there has been ATC delay program in effect for air traffic transitting Jacksonville FL ATC Florida. The average delay is 95 minutes, down from a whopping 205 minutes (almost 4 HOURS) earlier today. The reason; ATC center staffing and weather. Even the FAA recognizes that it has a staffing problem; not sure why some people don't accept that this is a shared problem and the airlines can only staff for what has been predictable in previous pre-covid summers.
I might not always agree with you or your tone, but your points on the thread are factual and I’m in agreement. Well said.
When a company has operational problems, people complain. When a company anticipates problems and proactively informs their customers, people... complain. SMH.
American, Delta, United ...they should all be out of business.
Let foreign airlines in to fly domestic routes and the "big 3" would either get their act together, or disappear. Good riddance.
I hope you don't count on Lufthansa to fly those domestic routes !! They can't even fly their scheduled routes in Germany where I am. An inkompetent airline.
You think things in Europe are better? You must not read very much.
There are strikes in France over the next weekend and also in Denmark.
AMS is basically burning down and don't even start with Ireland and the UK.
Chaos is going to ensue.
I guess you haven't read about the issues at AMS or the trouble BA is having. If you don't like AL, DL, or UL, take B6, WN, AS, Spirit, or Frontier. I flew AA yesterday from SNA to JFK in J. It was a great flight and experience.
I think when the airline itself is telling us that it's going to be a mess and here's an out, it makes sense to listen. There are no guarantees in life and the new date may also be a mess but perhaps better odds of making it to your destination.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't all these airlines take billions and billions in taxpayer money free money and some loans to insure that this would not happen once the pandemic was over they were supposed to keep staff and keep them trained
Once again the little man gets stepped on by these big corporations and also by the government
If a regular person takes welfare or food stamps or any government help...
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't all these airlines take billions and billions in taxpayer money free money and some loans to insure that this would not happen once the pandemic was over they were supposed to keep staff and keep them trained
Once again the little man gets stepped on by these big corporations and also by the government
If a regular person takes welfare or food stamps or any government help they are called lazy useless etc etc but when a billion dollar company does it it is called clever
first, the money wasn't free - the government took stock warrants which they have not exercised but they made money bailing out the airlines post 9/11 and could well again.
Second, I have consistently said here and elsewhere that the amount of money given to US airlines was excessive beyond the first round which re-established liquidity. Airlines like Delta and Southwest could not draw down their own lines of credit which were worth tens...
first, the money wasn't free - the government took stock warrants which they have not exercised but they made money bailing out the airlines post 9/11 and could well again.
Second, I have consistently said here and elsewhere that the amount of money given to US airlines was excessive beyond the first round which re-established liquidity. Airlines like Delta and Southwest could not draw down their own lines of credit which were worth tens of billions of dollars until federal help came. Bankruptcy was imminent until the first round.
Third, you are right that there was an implied -but not expressly written - expectation that airlines would be able to accommodate demand when it returned. Congress should have established specific expectations and guidelines that had to be met.
Fourth, never in the history of US aviation has demand went from "60 to zero" (immediately after the first lockdown) and then back to 60 in March of this year when people, not the government, decided they were through with covid.
There are enormous supply chain and operational challenges throughout the global economy - much of which was supported by their governments - that we would have never accepted pre-covid.
Airlines AND the FAA need to properly staff their operations but it is far too simplistic to point the blame at any one party
All you've said is absolutely true and very well put, so kudos for breaking it down succinctly. But...Ed Bastion and his Merry Band of Dipshit C-suite staff have been a real douchecanoes lately constantly by making very public statements touting how well Delta did during Covid yet here we are ::gestures vaguely at constantly failing flight and SkyClub operations that are clearly the result of no long-term plan post-Covid vis-a-vis early retirements and over-consumed/misdirected revenue...
All you've said is absolutely true and very well put, so kudos for breaking it down succinctly. But...Ed Bastion and his Merry Band of Dipshit C-suite staff have been a real douchecanoes lately constantly by making very public statements touting how well Delta did during Covid yet here we are ::gestures vaguely at constantly failing flight and SkyClub operations that are clearly the result of no long-term plan post-Covid vis-a-vis early retirements and over-consumed/misdirected revenue streams to keep shareholders happy::. So as a DM, I'm taking this as an overt "We screwed the pooch. Hard. And we're CYA-ing under the guise of doing something pro-customer." More airline double-speak, not that Ed's a stranger to being duplicitous anyway.
DL took on an additional $5B of debt during Covid. The Cares Act forced airlines to continue to serve all cities during Covid that were massive money losers in order to provide essential air service. The Cares Act funding essentially paid airline staff that were not needed to stay off unemployment which the government would then have to pay. It was not a money maker for the airlines.
It must be nice that you...
DL took on an additional $5B of debt during Covid. The Cares Act forced airlines to continue to serve all cities during Covid that were massive money losers in order to provide essential air service. The Cares Act funding essentially paid airline staff that were not needed to stay off unemployment which the government would then have to pay. It was not a money maker for the airlines.
It must be nice that you could predict travel demand, government policy, and spikes in Covid cases/subvariants 6 months in advance before any of the major airlines revenue management operations could. You should consider starting your own airline with your skill.
While anecdotal stories and cherrypicked dates about airline performance might be interesting, there is a data-driven approach to looking at how well airlines do on the metrics that the industry and government has decided the airlines should matter.
The DOT just released its latest Air Travel Consumer Report which contains on-time data for the month of April and year to date. Delta still has the best on-time record among mainland US airlines - Hawaiian...
While anecdotal stories and cherrypicked dates about airline performance might be interesting, there is a data-driven approach to looking at how well airlines do on the metrics that the industry and government has decided the airlines should matter.
The DOT just released its latest Air Travel Consumer Report which contains on-time data for the month of April and year to date. Delta still has the best on-time record among mainland US airlines - Hawaiian does better some months but Delta was higher in April.
DOT data has a lag in being released but Cranky Flier just ran a story with completion factors and on-time through Jun 27 and it shows that AA, B6, DL and UA - including their regional partners - all had completion factors within 1% while the difference between the top and bottom carrier on completion was just 3.5%; there is no clear airline that is doing significantly better or worse in completion factor.
In on-time, Delta still has the best on-time with nearly 20 points between Allegiant and JetBlue at the bottom of the list and DL at the top.
All of this data shows that Delta has ups and downs in its operation, esp. on weekends, but other airlines clearly are doing worse than Delta on other days. We have had predictions for months that Delta's operations would finally break but the data doesn't show that.
Delta has had a months-long problem w/ operational reliability on some weekends and holidays which they clearly need to fix but other airlines are cancelling more on days when Delta is running at high levels of reliability.
It is possible that DL has put out this waiver because of the DOT's focus on operational performance this weekend; the fewer passengers that have to fly, the better. There will be some passengers that will move to less peak days.
It is also possible that Delta's meteorologists see an increased risk of bad weather over the holidays in DL's hubs.
CF accurately notes that the FAA is clearly short-staffed and is issuing longer and more frequent ATC delays than they have in the past for the same types of weather. Right now there are ATC delays via Jacksonville, FL airspace (the aviation gateway to Florida) and at all 3 major S. Florida airports.
ATC delays eat up crew time.
I traveled during the pandemic but am spending as much time at home as possible. Those that need to travel should pack their patience and flexibility.
It’s this author Tim. If you’ve not already noticed, he’s consistently biased and myopic in his perspectives.
Our condolences in this most difficult of times for Delta stans.
I wish you were given a longer name than Tim Dunn and the letters rearranged spelled out “I am Ed Bastian.” like the Harry Potter villain.
Mmm.
It will be interesting to see what May and June numbers look like. We had a May Delta flight which was canceled on a perfect day weather-wise. I get it. Stuff happens. And it was indeed a Sunday. Delta neither texted nor emailed to let us know, nor was the flight showing as canceled on the website when we left our home; we found out at the check-in counter. To their credit, Delta...
Mmm.
It will be interesting to see what May and June numbers look like. We had a May Delta flight which was canceled on a perfect day weather-wise. I get it. Stuff happens. And it was indeed a Sunday. Delta neither texted nor emailed to let us know, nor was the flight showing as canceled on the website when we left our home; we found out at the check-in counter. To their credit, Delta rebooked us on a KLM flight; less to their credit, Delta downgraded us from First Class (leg 1)/Delta One (leg 2) to Economy/Economy with no offer of compensation, even though there were Business class seats available on the KLM flight. We politely inquired and were told we might be able to purchase upgrades from KLM. (KLM indeed offered us those upgrades at $899/person and we purchased them.) According to Delta's Contract of Carriage, Rule 19, we should have been offered seats in the class of carriage originally purchased or offered compensation for the difference.
I filed a consumer complaint with Delta asking for a prorated refund for the downgrade and got an autogenerated case number and notice that I should not expect to hear back for 30 DAYS OR LONGER. (Currently Day 24!)
While I appreciate Delta's honesty about wait time, this suggests there are quite a few people ahead of me in line. If Delta is doing so well operationally, why is the queue for consumer complaints so long?
Nothing more than a PR stunt like DL blocking middle seats. The vast majority of people have plans made that can't be changed and/or they don't want to change.
Flying ATL:DTW:AMS then AMS:ATL over this period. Fortunately I'm in the pointy end of the plane, but I'm still going into this with the expectation that I'm going to be delayed best case, cancelled worst case.
Unless your J cabin detaches and lands at a private airfield, you will face the disaster that AMS has become. Reports from other J class passengers at AMS on arr and dep are not encouraging to say the least.
The pointy end didn't keep me from a poorly-banked arrival at TATL arrival at ATL that forced a 5-1/2 hour layover that was then compounded by another 2 hours of delays due to DL operational issues. Had SkyClub access but NOBODY should ever want to spend that much time at a SkyClub. I'm actively avoiding DL right now because DL just can't seem to
A. Get their operations act together (have had anecdotally MUCH better...
The pointy end didn't keep me from a poorly-banked arrival at TATL arrival at ATL that forced a 5-1/2 hour layover that was then compounded by another 2 hours of delays due to DL operational issues. Had SkyClub access but NOBODY should ever want to spend that much time at a SkyClub. I'm actively avoiding DL right now because DL just can't seem to
A. Get their operations act together (have had anecdotally MUCH better service on AA lately domestically at TATL) despite what Tim Dunn is claiming above versus what I saw with my own eyes insomuch as delays/cancellations on my two observations
B. Leadership keep putting their feet in their mouth about the bailouts, how well DL did, and how DL is super great at screwing customers
This is too complicated for a typical frequent flyer to understand…and I don’t get it either.
1. Though not good, the advance waiver should be appreciated, though understand it does no good for people with set obligations. For them, that is awful.
2. Let’s see how the statistics play out after the weekend.
3. Amsterdam is a mystery, and I wish I knew more about the situation. This month flew KL from LAX-AMS-CPT with a...
This is too complicated for a typical frequent flyer to understand…and I don’t get it either.
1. Though not good, the advance waiver should be appreciated, though understand it does no good for people with set obligations. For them, that is awful.
2. Let’s see how the statistics play out after the weekend.
3. Amsterdam is a mystery, and I wish I knew more about the situation. This month flew KL from LAX-AMS-CPT with a 40 minute connection, with expectation that I’d miss my flight…it turned out to be as easy as AA’s 30 minute connections at DFW.
4. AA has increased staff pay to maintain a smooth operation…have other airlines done that? And, no, my name is not Tim Dunn JR.
We're close enough to July 1 - 4 to accurately predict weather delays. I suspect Delta is expecting quite a few pop up storms.
This is impossible. Tim Dunn assured all of us that Delta is the greatest run, most profitable airline in the history of aviation. They couldn't possibly be responsible for the proverbial sh!t show that we're all experiencing. They're a for profit company remember, they are making the best decisions and making the most money. We should all be thankful that Delta is here to take our money.
The validity of the waiver for rebooking until July 8th is gigantic middle finger to customers
Yes, we’ll keep flying them anyway
Almost any legacy airline thinks that way and is probably right
If it included the following weekend it would be somewhat better since many people are traveling over the weekend as, well, its a weekend. I doubt many people will happily exchange their long weekend plans for flying midweek and having to take off work
One of the most overrated airlines. While the industry broadly is facing so many challenges on the operational and staffing front, the arrogance that was Delta is perhaps no more.
If you must fly Delta this weekend take a flight on regional carrier SkyWest or stay home. Endeavor is near meltdown daily with mainline and Republic flights not far behind. SkyWest is still performing excellent...as of now.
Delta has led the war against frequent fliers for years, being the first airline to implement almost every negative change that we've seen. From their own executives they believe this is because they're so great we'll fly them anyway. I for one am happy to see their arrogance crumble under an avalanche of delays and cancelations.
Plus with the AMS meltdown, it's no fun to be a Skyteam flyer right now. It's an absolute shitshow right now, and I'm flying this weekend (Delta/KLM), so I guess I'll find out!
I've been monitoring FlightAware and my particular routes have been reliable. I picked a 7hr and a 3.5 layover just to cover potentiall delays and missed connections.
I will point out however that the past couple of days DL has only...
Plus with the AMS meltdown, it's no fun to be a Skyteam flyer right now. It's an absolute shitshow right now, and I'm flying this weekend (Delta/KLM), so I guess I'll find out!
I've been monitoring FlightAware and my particular routes have been reliable. I picked a 7hr and a 3.5 layover just to cover potentiall delays and missed connections.
I will point out however that the past couple of days DL has only had 1% cancellations, and AA has been leading the pack with 7-8% cancellations and UA at around 4%.
Delta has also been known to delay flights by a ridiculous amount of time just so that they don't factor into cancelations
I'd rather get to my destination late than having the pain to rebook. I've inconvenienced myself with a 7hr layover so I don't run into a missed connection,
Having flown Delta the past 2 weekends, I think this is a very smart idea. All 4 of my flights were delayed. The weekend before last I missed my connection. I was supposedly "protected" on the next flight, though someone messed up and that flight was overbooked by the time I landed, so had to take an even later flight. This past weekend it looked doubtful that I would make my connection, so they again...
Having flown Delta the past 2 weekends, I think this is a very smart idea. All 4 of my flights were delayed. The weekend before last I missed my connection. I was supposedly "protected" on the next flight, though someone messed up and that flight was overbooked by the time I landed, so had to take an even later flight. This past weekend it looked doubtful that I would make my connection, so they again protected me on the first flight the next day. Luckily I made my connection, because the flight they protected me on was cancelled.
The less people they can have flying this weekend, the better.
Delta Fan boy Tim Dunn could not be reached for comment.
Sorry, Ed Bastian’s boots needed a shine, and, you know…
Tim Dunn is furiously at work crafting a thousand word comment on why this is the most genius move ever by Delta.
You predicted accurately and he did not disappoint!
Pure gold.
Delta stock is down 3% on this news, this is not good for consumers nor investors. Airline cancellations are very costly.
This is very concerning, especially for Delta. It is notable that Delta did not mention the FAA or weather in their press release, putting the brunt of the blame on THEMSELVES.
Perhaps this will stir the pot and cause unionization with the FA's?
My dad is in Dfw going to SNA they already cancelled 2 flights today but American has 7 or 9 flights daily to Orange County. Today is a shoulder date. The crazy busy travel days will be Friday July 1 and July 4-6. There should be an ebb and flow July 3 Sunday evening.