I’m finally starting to see the pattern of what is going to be the unfortunate results of this merger. The first and foremost gripe. That stupid safety video drives me crazy. Every time I see it, I just want to punch that stewardess right in the face! 

Okay, now for real gripes.

I have frequently used Northwest over the last two years as they have some very convenient routes for me from PDX. They also had fairly comfy seats in coach with very a decent amount of leg room, personal video screens in coach as well, and finally, the most important, delays were non-existent. Not once in using them in two years was I delayed. Very reliable. The routes I use are the direct from PDX to Amsterdam, sometimes then also going from Amsterdam to Mumbai, and a direct from PDX to Narita then Narita to Bangkok. 

Now that the flights are officially Delta flights (with planes to match) gone are the Northwest A330s that had the comfy seats (even in coach), with the decent leg room, and the personal video screens. Only to be replaced by some very old looking 767s. Which have total crap, rock hard, make your ass sweat leather seats, not even close to the same amount of leg room as the A330s had (legs now easily rub the seat in front), and the classic movie screen at the front showing crap movies rather then the personal video displays. So basically with the tickets costing the same, we are getting worse accommodation due to the Delta bean counters scaling things back on these routes.

Once more, the most recent trip I had was riddled with delays. Something that again I mention just never happened when it was purely NW. Three out of the four flights got delayed. The first was the Amsterdam to Mumbai leg due to computer issues, which made us miss our push back window. So we had to wait on the plane for all the other planes to land and take up their gates before we had clearance again. 1.5hrs late to depart.

Then leaving Mumbai to go back to Amsterdam, the plane was late initially to Mumbai, which forced us to wait for another plane to disembark at our assigned gate, had to bus us out to the plane (which in Mumbai is not exactly a fun experience), then there was a technical problem with the plane that needed tending to. 2hrs late to leave for Amsterdam.

Then the final flight from Amsterdam back to PDX, ANOTHER technical problem which delayed boarding for about an hour, then we had to wait again for another 30 minutes. 1.5hrs late to leave.

Granted, I know there are way worse horror stories out there with people being delayed, sometimes much longer then what I’m listing. The point though I’m trying to make is that this just didn’t happen before when I flew NW before the merge!! 

Now I’m guessing this is just what I should expect when I fly Delta. Crap planes, with crap accommodations inside, leaving later then expected. Thanks for F-ing up a good airline Delta.