Deltagate

Qatar Air came to town with an A380 which can only be handled at one gate at The World's Busiest Airport. No one ever said it was the most capable.

Problem is Delta pretty much owns that gate, hell, they pretty much own the airport and while Delta does not fly any A380s to ATL they denied Qatar Air access forcing the Qatar passengers to deplane on the tarmac and bus to the station. Like being in Frankfurt or Amsterdam except the weather is worse.

Delta has been pissy of late having thrown its weight around just a bit too much transforming itself from hometown favorite to biggest bully on the block. They lost their state tax exemption on fuel when they meddled just a bit too much with local ground transportation policy--not their forte. Accustomed to using their money to curry favour they pulled funding for the Fox when a welcome party for Qatar was held at that venue. Accustomed to slinging politicians around like Duncan with his yo-yos they are really pissed off that ATL is expanding any flights with any airline but Delta.

How can you be sure? Fly a little. Helps if it's Delta if only because it will impact you. You'll need to listen carefully to the announcements.Want to know why? Because Delta announces gate changes all the time. So when it suits their needs Delta has no problem re-assigning gates at the drop of a hat.

Overbooked

Airlines, including our hometown fave Delta, have been overbooking flights for years. It has gotten so bad that Delta has found it necessary to alert customers to the fact that it is not acceptable to cop a squat on the engine in order to arrive on the flight they "booked" and naively believed would get them home.

Fly, Delta

If you ever get the chance to go to Dallas
Take it from me pass it by
'Cause you'll only sing the blues down in Dallas
Take it from me don't go and cry

"Dallas", Roger Bartlett, 1974

Being a corporate entity we all know that morals do not apply to any actions taken by Delta. This has been no more evident than with their recent pissin' and moanin' regarding events around an airport near Dallas. Not Dallas, Georgia, but Love Field near Dallas Texas. Dallas (TX) is kicking Delta out of Love Field (they will still fly in/out of DFW) and Delta has chastised Dallas, expressing disappointment "that the City of Dallas has made the decision to reduce competition and travel options...".  That warrants a big ole high flyin' WTF. How 'bout this Mister Delta: how about you apply that same logic regarding the airport over here near the other Dallas? You know, support competition and travel options by throwing your support behind commercial service at the Paulding Airport. Say what? Not going to happen? Oh, so your definition of "competition" is "we win and everyone else loses." Another mystery solved.

Later in the week the AJC reported that Delta's lawyer was whining that Dallas had decided that "available gate space should go to hometown favorite Southwest...". Would Delta like to give up some prime gate space at Hartsfield, or would they prefer to maintain their status as "hometown favorite"? Exactly.

Again, Delta is a corporate entity with no soul, no moral fiber and expecting it to behave inconsistent with that nature would be sure to disappoint. While shameless hypocrisy is consistent with that makeup the pissy attitude exposed by the juxtaposition of homonym and diametrically opposed actions breaks more than a few camels' backs.

So fly, Delta. Please. Just spool up them big ole jet engines and fly away...far...far...away.