My elderly father recently flew a Delta flight from LaGuardia to Portland, OR. Being an older gentleman, he's sometimes confused very easily. I was able to use the Delta website to give me updates on when the plane was to land (sent to my mobile phone). I arrived at the airport 30 minutes before the flight was scheduled to land.
I waited for him at the security checkpoint, and after about 30 minutes from the flight landing, he was no where to be found. I checked baggae claim, and the majority of the passengers on his flight were already gone.
I knew he had to change planes, so I got a little panicked wondering if he even got on the right one. The Delta ticket counter was empty (it was after 10PM), so I called their customer service number.
I explained the situation to "Susan", and asked if she could just check and see if he made it all the way through here to Portland or not, and her response was "I'm sorry, I am not allowed to give out that information.".
I reiterated that he was a 74 year old man, who sometimes can get confused, and the flight had already landed about 45 minutes ago. Whatever security threat would be created (my assumption for why this information couldn't be released) by letting me know he was actually on the flight had long since passed. She again repeated that "Regardless of your situation, I cannot give out that information."
At that point, I completely lost my cool. My bad, but if I wanted to hear the same sentence over and over (without any justification or acknowledgement of the problem) why not just transfer me to a recording?
I asked to be transferred to a supervisor, and she said "They're not going to tell you if he was on the flight either.". At which point I hung up disgusted.
I went over to the airport security office, and explained what was happening. They said they would check past the security area and see if he was even there, and even paged him. Sure enough they found him. (KUDOS to the PDX Airport Security) Nothing was wrong or amiss, he was having a difficult time in the bathroom outside the gate (probably from the airline food).
While I completely understand the need for heightened security post 9/11, I cannot fathom what Delta felt it was actually protecting by not answering a simple yes or no question. Had it been mid-flight, sure... But this was after the plane had landed, luggage was removed, and the crew had departed.
Anyone else have a similar experience?
Can someone from Delta explain what the deal is with this policy?
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