Do I have a Delta rap sheet?

October 19, 2018 4:48 PM

I fly to/from work on Delta airlines a few times a month. I’m usually just a normal traveler, albeit tired and just wanting to get where I need to go. I usually sit in First Class or Economy Comfort, and almost always bring a small gift of candy for the flight attendants to share. I consider myself pretty well-behaved...I keep my body in my own seat, I don’t hog the armrests or overhead bin space, and I never remove my shoes.

However, this past Monday I was on a flight that was delayed a laughable eleven hours. The flight gate area was a shitshow, with people (including the desk gate agents) freaking out. I was able to reroute using the app but my easy two hour non-stop trip w/ nice seat assignments were no more, and I wouldn’t get to work until pretty late in the day. On the first leg of my trip, I acted poorly and expressed my frustration about the lack of overhead bin space (a pet peeve of mine), singling out one person in particular. The flight attendant was not happy with me and accused me of being “aggressive.” A gate agent asked to speak with me, I apologized and explained my issues about the original flight’s delay, he agreed that the situation sucked and he promised me a $100 credit in my account (and he followed through.)

My question is, does Delta keep a secret file or rap sheet on its frequent fliers? Like, once I got a little tipsy flying home (free drinks!) after a long week...is there a notation somewhere that says I’m a boozebag? Does this thing that happened on Monday show somewhere that I’m a flaming bitch? What about the candies I gifted? Does someone note that somewhere?

PS: When my plane landed I waited for the guy I verbally abused and apologized. He was accepting and we both agreed that sometimes people are assholes. That day it was me.

posted by jen14221 to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

Fellow frequent business traveler here - I've definitely been that asshole once or twice, much as I hate to admit it. I had this happen a couple of months ago - my easy 2-hour nonstop flight to Chicago turned into an 8+ hour ordeal after United cancelled my flight for no apparent reason, eventually got me on an alternate connecting flight, then the second leg of that flight was delayed multiple times threatening to strand me somewhere in Ohio - with zero compensation because it was "weather related". At this point I had already missed dinner plans in Chicago and was getting zero updates (and honestly a rather uncaring "so what" attitude) from the gate agent - I finally snapped and chewed out him out. I apologized later but yes, it was not a fun experience (and I still blame United for not handling the issues that day better)

I think most people, given enough flights, will eventually get fed up and do the same. Travel can be a very stressful experience sometimes, I'm sure airline folks have seen it all. Short of getting arrested, I wouldn't worry about it. Good on you for apologizing, I'm sure the agents and your fellow traveler appreciated it.
posted by photo guy at 6:18 PM on October 19, 2018

I fly Delta exclusively for business travel, usually in first class. Several times a month.

I don't think they keep track, but I have never had any of your other interactions. I would never have any of your reactions. I'm a Minnesotan. Suffering is a virtue for us I guess. Also I would never sass a flight attendant, that's a one way ticket to Fuck Your Life right now, right then.

The worst I had was sleeping on the floor of the Miami airport, and Delta gave me 10,000 miles for that. It sucked, but what are you going to do?
posted by sanka at 6:54 PM on October 19, 2018

There are reservation notes that might mention pre-flight behavior but I don't know the extent to which airlines care about that information after a trip is completed, unless there is a major incident. They may well track that they gave you a credit (which would be pretty simple since it's posted to your account anyway) and the reason why. American Airlines recently revealed in an not-so-secret "internal" podcast that they do this.
posted by acidic at 7:03 PM on October 19, 2018

I doubt it. If airlines do that then British Airways would have a whole freaking novel on me.
posted by joan_holloway at 7:21 PM on October 19, 2018

At the airline my family member works for (not Delta) they have a thing called an "incident report" that certain office employees can access when dealing with a problem or a complaint. This sounds like the kind of thing where they might or might not have made a note that you complained and got some compensation. If you called them the following week to complain again or ask for more compensation, they would be able to consult it. In a situation like this one, that would be the only use for it. If you're really curious, you could call the airline and ask if there are any notes about that trip and tell them you are pleased with how they handled it, if that's the case. Mostly, I think, these notes are made by employees who are worried about being fired because someone complained about them.

It is possible to have a note put in your file for hindering operations or compromising safety, like the time I watched some passengers verbally abusing a flight attendant before takeoff and an off-duty pilot called to have those passengers removed. One of them said, "I will not be flying this airline again" and the pilot said, "You're right." You would know if something like this happened to you.
posted by BibiRose at 7:09 AM on October 20, 2018

Former business traveler here. I spent eight years flying quite frequently. I tend to think that if there were a list, we'd at least hear references to it, "that person's going on the list", "I'm making a note in their file", "do you want me to make a note about your behavior? No? Then stop yelling" kinds of things.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:46 AM on October 20, 2018