Delta Flight Attendant Slams ‘Heartless’ Atlanta Airport Staff for Ignoring Grieving Parents After Fatal Crash
- Delta Air Lines is facing a backlash after a flight attendant exposed how airport coworkers failed to help grieving parents rushing to see their only surviving child following a tragic car crash.
A Delta Air Lines flight attendant has lashed out at ‘horrible’ airport coworkers Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (ATL) after they failed to provide help and some much-needed empathy to a family who had just learned the devastating news that two of their three teenage children had been killed in a horror car crash.
The family had rushed to the airport to visit the sole surviving child who was still in the hospital in critical condition. Their journey would see them connect through Atlanta – a process that can be difficult at the best of times but horrendous for a family in crisis.
Why is ATL ACS so trash?
byu/Clocked_Tea100 inflightattendants
“This Wasn’t a Hard Ask”
The flight attendant explained what happened next in a post that was shared on the social media platform Reddit.
“A young family was woken up this morning to the unthinkable news that 2 of their teenage children had died in a car accident. They booked the first flight they could (mine) to check on the surviving child who is currently in critical condition at the hospital,” the flight attendant wrote.
“My crew spoke with the Captain, requesting that we please have a ‘meet and assist’ or a Red Coat meet the family at our gate to help them navigate Atlanta airport from terminal A to terminal C (Not getting lost should be the last thing on their minds at a time like this).”
A Missed Opportunity for Compassion
The flight attendant asked: “Simple, right? Shoe empathy, compassion, and go just a LITTLE bit of the extra mile to help a grief-stricken couple.”
Sadly, the flight attendant soon learned that this seemingly simple act wasn’t quite so simple for Delta, even at its main hub airport where the airline has its global headquarters.
Despite being briefed by the flight attendant on what had happened, the only help that thew Red Coat that showed up at the gate provided to the family was gesturing “in the general direction of Terminal C.”
“I am so upset right now on behalf of these people,” the flight attendant wrote. “And most of all, I am extremely disappointed in us. This was NOT a difficult ask.”
Referring to internal guidelines, the flight attendant wrote: “We talk SO much about being the Delta difference and making connections with our customers, but when it comes down to moments that would TRULY matter, how do we drop the ball so badly?”
There’s no doubt that Delta has long put out the kind of messaging that it provides a far superior level of service than any other major US airline so this is probably the one carrier you wouldn’t necessarily expect to screw something like this up.
That being said, there aren’t many airlines out there with the kind of spare resources and flexibility to assign staff to carry out this type of assignment – no matter how well received it would be.
What’s striking though, is that airlines like Delta and United will have no problem hiring special staff members to meet, greet and assist celebrities and other high-flyers, often transferring them from gate to gate in golf carts.
And sometimes, not even a golf cart is good enough. At certain airports, including Atlanta Hartsfield, Delta has branded luxury Porsche cars waiting at the aircraft side to whisk elite passengers to their next gate.
Do you think Delta should have done more to offer special support for these grieving passengers?
Of course they should have, simple human compassion would dictate that. But Delta’s ATL staff could hardly pass up a chance to show their rudeness and contempt for pax. It is, after all, a tradition.
I believe Vasu is a scape goat. Nothing he came up with was on his own. Everything was in line with the corporate direction the company was taking at the time and approved by the CEO and the board. The CEO is ultimately responsible for all decisions, yet he was awarded over $30 million dollars last year. Where is the union’s outrage over that? Vadu was awarded $1 million dollars. Yes, Vasu was a douche but he was not acting alone. This confirms my suspicion that the union is actually the company. Deflect the anger on the one that was fired and have the union publicly lash out at him to divert attention from the real issue that this board and CEO are 100% to incompetent and to blame for all the bad decisions made over a period of years at American while they go untouched in their cushy positions.