Could you imagine being forced to spend a night onboard an aircraft while it’s simply parked at an airport? That’s exactly what happened to passengers on two Delta flights on Thursday night, into Friday morning, as flagged by View from the Wing. This sounds decidedly un-premium!
In this post:
Two Delta flights divert, trap passengers for night
On the night of Thursday, April 10, 2025, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) dealt with some bad weather, including thunderstorms and strong winds, which had major impacts on airline operations. Arguably, two flights had especially unfortunate outcomes:
- Delta flight DL1828 from Los Cabos (SJD) to Atlanta (ATL) was scheduled to depart at 2:10PM and arrive at 8:58PM, and was operated by a Boeing 737-900
- Delta flight DL599 from Mexico City (MEX) to Atlanta (ATL) was scheduled to depart at 3:30PM and arrive at 9:00PM, and was operated by a Boeing 737-800
Due to bad weather in Atlanta, both aircraft ended up having to divert to Montgomery (MGM), 147 miles form Atlanta. The flight from Los Cabos landed at 10:20PM, while the flight from Mexico City landed at 10:29PM. Both aircraft did quite a bit of circling before diverting, but conditions didn’t improve.
Once on the ground, conditions in Atlanta still weren’t good, and eventually the crews timed out. So the flights were basically canceled, but there was one issue… the airport doesn’t have a US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) facility, so since these were arriving international passengers, they couldn’t actually deplane.
As a result, all passengers and the crews had to spend the entire night on the two aircraft, until around 5:30AM, without any additional food or drinks, beyond what was onboard. At that point, the airport authority set up a restricted area within the terminal, where passengers could pass some time.
Since the crews had timed out, Delta of course had to fly in replacement crews to carry these passengers, leading to a significant additional delay. For example, in the end, the Mexico City flight ended up taking off at 11:13AM and arriving in Atlanta at 12:45PM, around 16 hours behind schedule. It’s rough to think that passengers had to spend that entire time either on the plane or in the terminal.
Could Delta have handled this situation differently?
Airline operations are of course incredibly complex, and there are so many factors that have to be considered, and so many curveballs. So of course hindsight is 20/20, and it’s clear that at least in retrospect, this wasn’t an ideal outcome.
When you divert due to weather, the priority is to get the plane on the ground safely. Presumably the plan was to continue the same night to Atlanta, and the goal was just to refuel and wait out the weather. But that’s not how things worked out.
Many people are understandably wondering why the airline didn’t instead divert to another airport with a CBP facility. That’s a fair question to ask, but at the same time, the initial plan presumably wasn’t to actually disembark passengers there, but rather to just refuel and continue.
Another fair question is why the airport authority in Montgomery couldn’t open up a blocked off area of the terminal for passengers earlier, like late at night, rather than in the morning. That’s also a fair question, and I suspect it comes down to Montgomery being a tiny airport, not having much staffing overnight, and it probably taking a lot of time before someone in a position of authority could authorize it.
The end result, though, sounds incredibly unpleasant. I mean, passengers had to spend 17 consecutive hours (or even more) on a 737, only to then be left into a gate area for nearly six hours, before actually being flown to their destination.
Bottom line
Two Delta Boeing 737s flying from Mexico to Atlanta on Thursday evening had to divert to Montgomery, after bad weather in Atlanta prevented landing there. While the initial plan was just to refuel there, unfortunately this became a bit of a mess, after it was decided that the flight couldn’t be completed.
Since Montgomery is a tiny airport and doesn’t have an immigration facility, passengers were forced to spend the night onboard the aircraft. In the morning, an area of the terminal was blocked off for them. A replacement crew was eventually found, and they ended up making it to Atlanta in the early afternoon, many hours behind schedule.
What do you make of these Delta diversions?
That is so incredibly inept. Delta could have DRIVEN a replacement crew there before everyone debarked at 5:30AM. Every one of those passengers should get the entire cost of the flight reimbursed for having to spend 16-17 hours on a sardine can 737.
Coming to America is always a primitive experience compared to international arrivals in the first world, but this downright miserable.
This is on DL OPS. The flight could have diverted to BNA/CHS/CLT/SAV/JAX even MSY if weather was hammering all of the SouthEast.
Piss poor planning.
Fail to see how it’s not DL fault here they could’ve diverted to JAX or SAV with CBP facilities and Delta frequencies to bring new crew quickly. Hope they refund the passengers
I was there that morning to fly AA to DFW at 0645. I was wondering why there were so many people in line at the Delta counter. After clearing security, clutching my PreCheck card, airport police told everyone that due to diverting flights, ALL flights were leaving from the lower gates 1,2, and 3. We were supposed to leave out of 5. I saw the police had folks corralled in one area. We had no...
I was there that morning to fly AA to DFW at 0645. I was wondering why there were so many people in line at the Delta counter. After clearing security, clutching my PreCheck card, airport police told everyone that due to diverting flights, ALL flights were leaving from the lower gates 1,2, and 3. We were supposed to leave out of 5. I saw the police had folks corralled in one area. We had no idea they were international flights that needed Customs and Immigration services. Someone had brought in dozens of boxes of Krispy Cream donuts, Coke and other snacks. I felt bad for them-I can't imagine sitting in 33 A all night!
Why is it impossible for US DHS to allow flexibility in a case like this. Let the passengers off the plane, put them up in a hotel, and process them in the morning on arrival in ATL? That's the humane solution. It's not like any terrorist knew about this diversion. So what if someone who didn't know manages to escape. DHS already has the passenger list with documents.
It's cruel to force the passengers...
Why is it impossible for US DHS to allow flexibility in a case like this. Let the passengers off the plane, put them up in a hotel, and process them in the morning on arrival in ATL? That's the humane solution. It's not like any terrorist knew about this diversion. So what if someone who didn't know manages to escape. DHS already has the passenger list with documents.
It's cruel to force the passengers to spend the night on the aircraft in this situation, and it doesn't serve an adequate purpose to force this.
Where is common sense and consideration for the comfort of the human beings on this aircraft?
It’s on the shoulders of DL Ops.
Admittedly if the weather was that bad many flights were disrupted, and their hands were full, but they have enough experience to know how to handle SE weather and diversions.
Make America Great Again! So much winning!
God Bless the USA!
The US has really become a true banana republic. It is unbelievable that they can’t even get a secure room to hold the prisoners, I mean passengers, in a semi decent condition. It is an airport, it must have a TSA secure area after all. There is nothing lately we can do right… what a joke
Why didn’t they just divert the flights to another airport that has customs and immigration?
Delta cracks as soon as the should-be-expected happens…
Hell my first thought half way through this article was I’m sure they did this to avoid “canceling” a flight… and that probably was their mentality all the way up to forced disembarkation.
Amusingly, I sorta feel bad for those first class passengers who paid $3,000 for this Uber premium Delta experience from hell but will only receive skypesos as compensation.
When I read of situs like this, I am reminded of ed bastian lauding the incoming administration because of his belief that no one will hold them accountable for crap like this. Absolutely ridiculous that this nonsense is still going on.
17 hours in a 737?!
I am surprised no one had a medical emergency.
But to be honest, this is the only way out in such a situation.
Even if the plan is to refuel and depart again, there’s always a chance the flight won’t make it out again right away. Maintenance issues, weather that won’t clear at the destination, crew timeouts, and other reasons could all come up unexpectedly to drive a need to deplane everyone.
Any flight arriving from another country should plan a CBP-capable station as their diversion point.
This "crew timed out" BS needs to STOP!
If you've banned Tim Dunn, you should probably stop doing the "premium" jabs in the posts. At this point it feels like punching down.
But it’s Delta themselves who use the term “premium” over and over in press releases, earnings call, etc.
Keep punching.
His ring, his rules.
Why on earth would you stop calling a lie a lie. the parallels today….
Delta is not premium period. But they certainly act and sell themselves as if they are. That deserves recurring attention to help ensure the flying public aren’t fooled.
Keep repeating something and eventually they believe you…. Unless someone else keeps reminding them of the facts.
Since “we are rethinking the role of the govt” why not outsource some immigration functions to airlines? If Delta had its own CBP officers, it would have flown them to process the flights and avoided most of this mess!
I don't see how this isn't totally on Delta. Yes, weather is beyond their control. But surely Delta had some say as to where to land the two planes. For international flights why choose to land at an airport without the necessary arrival facilities. Even if Delta thought (hoped?) that it would be a quick diversion, why take that risk? The planes circled for a while - they could have easily landed at Charleston, Charlotte,...
I don't see how this isn't totally on Delta. Yes, weather is beyond their control. But surely Delta had some say as to where to land the two planes. For international flights why choose to land at an airport without the necessary arrival facilities. Even if Delta thought (hoped?) that it would be a quick diversion, why take that risk? The planes circled for a while - they could have easily landed at Charleston, Charlotte, or Jacksonville, all of which have international arrivals capability.
Birmingham or Huntsville should have CBP facilities. Just maybe no agents at that time.
What Delta could also do is ferry in new pilots. To relief 2 jets at a same airport isn't that bad.
Regardless DL seems to get worse at handling situations like this. And Tim has to wait till at least May to fluff us DL still has best on time ratings.
Seriously now, one could not make this scenario up.
Is there anyone at Delta who can be trusted to run a bath?
The orange banana republic couldn't sell a fee of it's thousands and thousands of border people to Montgomery to check passports?
What a third world country.
Lot of factors above DL's control. The plane may have been low on fuel and could not divert anywhere else. It's a small airport with limited resources. And since it's International it's not like DL could simply charter a bus to finish the trip. Weather conditions probably prevented a crew and a/c being dispatched from ATL.
Planes that have arriving passengers that need cleared should be required to divert to an airport that has border and customs facilities unless other circumstances such as medical, plane malfunction, or lack of fuel dictate. Of course they didn’t and predictably the crew timed out.
Agree with this. And non-CBP airports, however minor, should have a holding pen area with bathrooms and water for this very reason. It's not like passengers are gonna jump a security fence to get into the country (right?).
Punishment for selecting Mexico for a vacation?
Let's not be silly now. The people of Mexico are friendly, the food is fantastic, and there are many great deals. I have an AMEX offer for $200 off $1,000 Hilton in Mexico.
Setting aside my advocacy of open borders, an airport doesn't need to have a full fledged CBP facility to process international arrivals.
My hometown (population <100k) in middle America has a locally residing CBP Officer on call to handle the occasional internationally arriving private plane.
Somebody in the government should have been alerted to this Delta situation and decreed the equivalent of an executive order to get CBP Officers to the airport and process anyone...
Setting aside my advocacy of open borders, an airport doesn't need to have a full fledged CBP facility to process international arrivals.
My hometown (population <100k) in middle America has a locally residing CBP Officer on call to handle the occasional internationally arriving private plane.
Somebody in the government should have been alerted to this Delta situation and decreed the equivalent of an executive order to get CBP Officers to the airport and process anyone who wished to get off the plane.
Ouch! Well, this just must be false, because Delta is obviously the worlds most-premium-best airline and this never would have happened
This case is a great argument in favor of open borders. Silly laws around artificially demarcated borders to keep out members of our own species meant that hundreds of people spent a night sitting upright in a metal tube.
Open borders aye? You must want an illegal or a terrorist to nuke a city, rape your granny, paralyze your brother in a hit and run, or prostitute your kid. You are a real Georgia peach to have in our presence today. Well back to logistics of this Delta diversion, customs closure times are a well known fact at airports. Seems the company really tried to err on the side of hope rather than err...
Open borders aye? You must want an illegal or a terrorist to nuke a city, rape your granny, paralyze your brother in a hit and run, or prostitute your kid. You are a real Georgia peach to have in our presence today. Well back to logistics of this Delta diversion, customs closure times are a well known fact at airports. Seems the company really tried to err on the side of hope rather than err on the side of likely outcomes by not diverting sooner to an airport with open customs and immigration. Guess overnighting the passengers on a plane is far cheaper. You get what your pay for i guess so think of this the next time you choose a carrier which doesn’t act proactively and makes questionable decisions.