Smoke in Cockpit Diverts Delta Air Lines Flight to Tampa

Delta Air Lines flight 531 from Atlanta to Cancun diverted to Tampa after the pilots smelled smoke in the cockpit.

Source: Delta plane makes emergency landing at TIA

Delta Air Lines Flight Diverts Due to Engine Problems

A Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas was diverted to Oklahoma City due to engine problems.

Source: Plane diverted to Oklahoma City because of engine problems

"One Plus One Equals Less Than Two"

The BTS statistics reported separately for Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines even though the two carriers were joined at the corporate hip for most of 2009 and officially merged on December 31. Taken together, they carried 108.5 million passengers. That would have made it slightly larger than Southwest, which carried 101.3 million customers. (Delta-Northwest's combined total of 20.4 million international passengers would have made it slightly larger than American's overseas traffic too.) But the numbers are deceiving because Delta is shrinking fast. In 2008, Delta and Northwest carried a combined total of 120.3 million passengers. That means the two carriers in 2009 shrank almost 10 percent compared to 2008.

Source: One Plus One Equals Less Than Two

Smoke Fills Cabin of Delta Air Lines 757

A Delta Air Lines 757 flying from New York to San Francisco (DL 721) Tuesday evening (March 30) made an emergency landing in St. Louis after smoke filled the passenger cabin.

Sources:

Delta flight makes emergency landing in St. Louis

Delta Plane Makes Emergency Landing in St. Louis

Delta jet makes emergency landing at Lambert

Up to $5,000,000 Government Subsidy for Paris Flight

State and local governments might have to pay up to $5,000,000 in subsidies to underwrite Delta Air Lines' service between Pittsburgh and Paris.

Sources:

Government, group on hook for $5M to subsidize Pittsburgh-Paris flights

Paris flight not meeting revenue target

How global would this "global" airline be if the subsidies were cut?

Retraining Laid Off Delta Air Lines Employees Costs Taxpayers Millions

Not only are Minnesota's funds for retraining laid-off workers almost exhausted, but $3,000,000 of future funds are earmarked for retraining workers already laid off by Delta Air Lines.

Source: Minnesota nearly out of money to help retrain laid-off workers

Synergies for Delta Air Lines, bills for the taxpayers.

Union Problems Brewing at Delta Air Lines

The union that represents the former Northwest Airlines flight attendants is trying to block further integration of Delta Air Lines crews, claiming that their contract requires that only Northwest crews work on Northwest planes.

Source: Northwest union seeks to halt Delta crew integration

Only problem is that there are no longer any Northwest planes, and the two sets of pilots are already integrated.

Three Flight Attendants Injured by Turbulence on Delta Air Lines A319

Three flight attendants on a Delta Air Lines A319 flying from New York City (La Gaurdia)to West Palm Beach, FL, on March 11, were injured when they encountered severe turbulence on the landing approach:

Delta Airlines reported, that the three flight attendants received minor injuries in the turbulence encounter, requested medical assistance after passengers had disembarked, were taken to a local hospital as a precaution and were released soon after.

Sources:

Accident: Delta Airlines A319 near West Palm Beach on Mar 11th 2010, turbulence sends 3 flight attendants to hospital

Two Delta flight attendants en route to PBIA hurt in rough weather

Fumes Ground Delta Air Lines Plane at Albuquerque

A Delta Air Lines plane taxiing for takeoff at Albuquerque returned to the gate after several passengers became dizzy from fumes in the cabin.

Source: Fumes ground departing jet at Sunport

The Still Shrinking Airlines

Delta Air Lines enplanements for Jan-Dec, 2009, down 5.4% from Jan-Dec, 2008

Northwest Airlines enplanements for Jan-Dec, 2009, down 16.2% from Jan-Dec, 2008

And the competition?

Southwest Airlines enplanements for Jan-Dec, 2009, down only 0.6% from Jan-Dec, 2008

Source: December 2009 Airline Traffic Data: System Traffic Down 0.6 Percent from December 2008

Delta Air Lines #1 for Tarmac Delays in January

Delta Air Lines won top billing for tarmac delays in January, 2010:

Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays

Delta Air Lines flight 2244 from Fort Myers, FL to New York LaGuardia, 1/25/10 - delayed on tarmac 253 minutes

Delta Air Lines flight 1737 from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, 1/24/10 - delayed on tarmac 245 minutes

(There were only two flights with tarmac delays of four hours or more in January)

Source: US DOT: Airline On-Time Performance Improves in January

Delta Air Lines Lobbies for Tarmac Stranding

Delta Air Lines wants to be exempted from a new rule that prohibits keeping passengers imprisoned on the tarmac for longer more than three hours.

This rule is being put into affect because airlines such as Delta have been abusing passengers in the manner for years, and Delta wants to continue that abuse.

Source:

Airlines Seek Exemption From Three Hour Rule At JFK

Delta Requests D.O.T. waiver for new KJFK tarmac delay rules

New tarmac rule may cost passengers

Delta Air Lines Traffic Falls 2.6% in February

Delta Air Lines traffic dropped 2.6% in February, 2010, as compared to February, 2009. Capacity was reduced by 6.1%.

Sources:

Delta traffic down 2.6 percent in February

Delta Air Lines Feb. Traffic Declines 2.6%

Delta traffic slides in February

Delta Air Lines Reports February Traffic

Delta Air (DAL) Reports 2.6% Drop in System Traffic During February

Bringing a Bike? Delta Air Lines is the Worst!

Costs of checking a bike for your trip:

Delta $175
United $175
American $100 + checked luggage fee
US Airways $100
Continental $100
JetBlue $50
Frontier $50
Southwest $50

Source: What's The Best Airline For Bringing My Bike?

Delta Air Lines A320 Shuts Down Engine in Flight

A Delta Air Lines A320 (DL-2339) flying from Detroit, MI, to Denver, CO, shut down an engine in flight and returned to Detroit on Feb. 28.

Source: Incident: Delta Airlines A320 over Lake Michigan on Feb 28th 2010, engine shut down in flight

Bulldog Freezes to Death in Delta Air Lines Cargo Hold

An English Bulldog apparently froze to death enroute to JFK airport in the cargo hold of a Delta Air Lines plane.

A month earlier one of two puppies enroute from Mexico City to JFK also froze to death in a cargo hold -- no indication as to whether or not that also involved a Delta Air Lines flight.

Sources:

Bulldog Dies on Delta Flight

One Puppy Survives Freezing Flight

Puppy survives journey in plane's cargo bay

Puppy survives journey in plane's cargo bay

Bags Doused with Deicing Fluid? Or with?

A group of 10 passengers claiming their bags after a flight from Atlanta to Denver on DL 1487 noticed that their bags stunk:

"Our bags were the last ones to come out of the baggage carousel and they were just smelling profusely," Michael Jobin said, one of the travellers. Apparently the bags of the entire group group, and those of another couple, were soaked in an unknown fluid.

They first assumed the fluid might have been jet fuel. Then a Delta Air Lines spokes person said their bags had been, "exposed to deicing fluid and is working to reach out to these customers to ensure that their claims are resolved." However, later the airline was not able to confirm exactly what kind of liquid the bags were exposed to.

Source: Luggage Smells Horrid After Delta Air Lines Flight

Wing Flag Failure on Delta Air Lines CRJ-100

A Delta Air Lines CRJ-100 operated by Comair and flying from New York City to Montreal on 29 January made an emergency landing at Montreal after its wing flaps failed.

Source: Incident: Comair CRJ1 at Montreal on Jan 29th 2010, flaps failure

Lawsuit Adds Additional Charges of Collusion

A lawsuit filed in 2008 alleging collusion between Delta Air Lines & AirTran with regard to baggage fees has been amended to add an allegation that the two airlines colluded to reduce capacity out of Atlanta so as to increase fares:

The suit, filed in in Atlanta last year, was followed by similar lawsuits around the country that were consolidated into a single case in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. Earlier this month, attorneys filed a consolidated complaint with the additional claims. The suit claims that "as a direct result of their collusion," Delta and AirTran cut flight capacity to support price increases and impose the bag fee.

Source: Lawsuit alleges collusion on airline fees

Delta Air Lines Passenger Dies at Detroit Airport

For some apparently even the impending stress of flying on Delta Air Lines is more than one can bear:

It happened Friday morning in the McNamara Terminal. The man was found unresponsive in the boarding area in Concourse C. Sources tell WWJ that the man was waiting to board a Delta Air Lines flight.

Source: Passenger Dies at Metro Airport