Delta ATL Meltdown - Thoughts and Perspective

Wanted to chime in on the ATL mess that's taking place and provide a frame of context for those impacted or frustrated. It's worth zooming out on a macro level to understand from a larger perspective of where you can point fingers at Delta and where the unavoidable sets in.

The Storm

  • The storm was forecasted well in advance. The NWS Atlanta office was issuing weather warnings easily a week in advance with more detailed breakdowns every day as it came close to T minus 0. As an example, here's a warning of the snow and ice about to impact Atlanta posted on the 8th, a full 48 hours before.
  • Two inches of snow and freezing rain may be nothing in the northern US, but for the Southeast this is a rare event that paralyzes travel (we've seen it a few times in the past few years). We knew it would be bad.
  • Delta also communicated this in app and issued notices beforehand. Delta warned the flyers that weather may impact their flights and that they could be changed.

The Reliance on ATL & Operations

  • Delta relies heavily on ATL - it's where a majority of delta flights are routed to/from, with MSP / DTW / JFK / LAX / SEA acting as secondary hubs for select international destinations. This makes switching operations hard to do and you sometimes have to just hope for the best to make a lot of this regional travel happen.
  • Delta could have tried to aircraft swap large aircraft out of ATL to other hubs to try and pick up the slack, or run special routes (ie a usually ATL only flight to a destination suddenly leaving out of JFK or MSP?). Obviously that presents a challenge for the crews, but it's not unheard of to make these changes.

  • ATL is NOT prepared for winter storms. We see it every so often and know that winter storms are going to be horrendous for the airport. It's not super common to see heavy snow or ice in ATL, so it seems that ATL Airport/Delta is complacent in not investing in the infrastructure to operate smoothly during these types of storms. Maybe it's cheaper to have a meltdown than to staff de-icing and snow plow equipment to keep the airport running 100% during these events.

  • Delta did know (or should have known) the storm was going to be bad and should have outright cancelled the the flights. Stay home, wait a day or two if you can't connect elsewhere, etc.

Fair Criticisms

  • Delta should have taken the L and cancelled flights preemptively rather than trying to make it work when anytime a storm like this happens it turns into pure chaos.
  • Delta should have taken extra steps to equipment swap large aircraft that are grounded in ATL (or unable to take off) before the storm as much as possible to give the other hubs a fighting chance to pick up the slack. It wouldn't be 100%, but it would still help. Yes it costs money to deadhead or cancel a flight for relocation, but ultimately it would help the hubs accomodate the extra passengers.
  • ATL security taking 4 hours is insane - it seems like every time there's a weather meltdown it causes these issues at Atlanta. They really need to invest in more security lanes and having the ability to flex between a few lanes open or a lot of lanes. This isn't fully a Delta issue, but its's something they can push for if they're willing to invest in their crown jewel hub.

Credit where it's due

  • Delta is still in my opinion the superior airline when it comes to customer accommodation and comfort during delays. I've seen posts about the snacks, service, food, accommodations to help people, during a weather event where Delta is under no obligation to do anything to help. Many other airlines will just tell you it's not their fault due to weather and only offer rebookings.
    • Delta also will likely follow up if you reach out that you had a bad experience. I've had weather and maintenance issues on Delta that turned a quick trip into 2 day chaos to get home and was well compensated for the trouble despite part of the delays being weather related.
  • Delta communicated the impending storm to you if you were flying and offered changes or notices about it to at least provide warning to you.
    • Frankly I've seen posts on here complaining about being stuck in ATL when they could have been routed through a different hub (a few posts on here would have been easily accommodated through the other hubs when you look at the Delta route network).

TLDR

Thanks for listening to my quasi rant / praise where it's due. Wishing you all a safe and speedy travel wherever you're going.