Delta's Colossal Mess-Up
My wife and one kid were stuck in Atlanta, so maybe I'm biased. But I thought Delta's premium brand stood for more than this.
Dear readers,
Delta, the airline that not long ago trademarked the phrase "the on-time machine" and has spent considerable time and money over the past 15 years bolstering its upscale brand positioning, has had an epic meltdown this week that I suspect will affect its earnings, and its beloved brand — because how can an airline earn a revenue premium if it can’t get customers where they want to go and can’t tell them when it will do so?1
No matter how much Ed Bastian (or rather the P.R. person who wrote his statement the airline released Sunday) wants to blame "an outside vendor technology issue,” travelers are smart enough to understand that many of Delta's competitors faced the same issues with shorter-term effects and far fewer repercussions. It’s glaringly obvious.