Stuck at the Mall of America for Days on End

I was supposed to be home three days ago, but I’m smack dab in the middle of the Delta meltdown. On Saturday night, my flight from Minneapolis to Boise was delayed from 10pm to 12:30am, then to 2:00am, then to 3:00am, then it was cancelled. I would estimate that a thousand people slept on the airport floor that night–surreal. I was put on standby for a 10am flight to Spokane, but that flight was cancelled, as well. Since Sunday morning, I’ve been at the Radisson Blu in the Mall of America.

I’m scheduled for a 10:30pm flight tonight, but I’m not hopeful. There are three Delta flights from Minneapolis into Spokane today. The first has been delayed three times, the second has been cancelled, and the last one is the one I’m scheduled for. Not an auspicious start to the day.

I’ve never seen corporate incompetence on this level before.

If you’ve read any of the news stories about the meltdown, you know the problem isn’t lack of planes, but lack of staff.

The reason my flight on Saturday was cancelled was because Delta was one flight attendant short of the legal minimum to board. The plane was there, we could all see it, and we all watched two pilots and two flight attendants check in at the gate then head to the lounge to wait. The departure time kept getting delayed in the hope that another flight attendant could be found.

Four days later, this same problem persists.  Delta simply can’t find it’s own employees.

I’ve read a few early think pieces on the matter, and it looks like this will cost Delta at least a billion dollars, although it could be substantially higher depending on what fines the Transportation Department imposes. The federal government stuck Southwest with a $140m penalty for a similar disruption in service years ago.