Uniform changes, soft drinks wait for Delta and NWA

by Tom Johansmeyer on

This week, Northwest employees will get some new threads. Delta has announced that the vanquished will don the mother ship’s uniforms this week, calling it “one of the first outwardly visible signs that the two airlines are now one.” More important than the employees’ new sartorial splendor, free snacks are coming back to all flights!

But, one important question remains: Coke or Pepsi? Delta and Coca-Cola, both Atlanta-based, have had a near-marriage for more than 75 years. So, does Delta want some strange, or will it honor its long-term commitment? Northwest currently serves Pepsi products on its flights.

According to a Delta mouthpiece, it could take a while to come to a landing on the “beverage strategy.” So, for now: same duds, different suds.

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Northwest flight attendants go retro before assimilation

by Grant Martin on

Rumor in the underground has it that Northwest Airlines‘ flight attendants will be going retro during the last week of March, in a throwback to all of the old Northwest and Northwest Orient garb over the ages. Apparently April 1st marks the first day that staff are required to wear the new Delta uniform, so employees will be digging back into their closets to pull out the vintage gear. And as one of of the airlines with the oldest rank and file of Flight Attendants, I’ll bet that those uniforms go way back.

So which uniforms will come out? Will it be the 1980’s drab brown suits with bow ties and Russian hats? The late seventies, crazy pattern blouses? Or the old school, Northwest Orient red dresses? You can check them all out at uniformfreak.com

Either way,If you’re flying Northwest Airlines over the last week of March, keep your eyes peeled for flight attendants wearing wild vintage uniforms and wish them the best on their new careers at Delta.

How one minute can cost you $530 at Calgary International Airport

by Annie Scott on

Last Friday at Calgary International Airport (right), 22-year-old Florida student Samantha Hydes learned a new lesson: Northwest Airlines is a bunch of jerks Be on time.

Hydes arrived at 7:01 AM for her 8:00 AM flight home to Tallahassee and was unceremoniously denied. She had driven in from Banff. Guess she should have driven just a hair faster, not paused so long at stop signs, and walked faster from the car to the check-in.

Northwest Airlines does “recommend” that travelers arrive two hours in advance of international flights, but Hydes said there was no mention of the one-hour rule which left her stranded. The Northwest Airlines attendant told her the computer had “closed for booking.”

According to the Calgary Sun: “She eventually booked a flight departing five hours later with Delta Airlines, Northwest’s corporate cousin, shelling out $530 above the $750 round-trip fare she’d already paid. Of that sum, $150 was for a flight change fee, said Hydes.”

Okay. She was late. But not very. And nobody told her there was a one-hour rule. Airports do need time to process their passengers, especially international ones, so definitely take your airlines “recommendations” seriously.

As for Northwest Airlines in this particular case? We think that’s lame. We are suspicious that the gate attendant stood there typing “asdfjkl;” into the computer while the 7:00 turned to 7:01.

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Your paltry Delta miles aren’t accepted here

by Grant Martin on

If Delta Skymiles could be equated to a currency, they would be Zimbabwean Dollars.

Over the past several months, numerous changes at the Atlanta based company have brought significant detriment to the joint Delta and Northwest frequent flyer program. These modifications range from an increase in mileage fee for economy tickets (tickets to Europe, for example, went from 50K to 60K miles,) application of fees for award bookings (up to $150,) and the reduction of benefits such as free miles redeposits and system wide upgrades.

There are plenty of small annoyances, but what all of these program changes boil down to is a change in the model in which award tickets are exchanged. Formerly, supply of award miles was lower, availability was higher and the top few passengers who earned numerous miles could spend them fairly easily.

Now, supply is higher, availability is lower and the masses all generally have access to a few scrappy seats. The very few extra that are booked are done so at excruciating costs. So as a result, the airline loses less money on award bookings and gives passengers the false sense of reward with useless miles.
No passenger is in a better perspective to observe the change than he who was a Northwest Worldperks member. Over the last six months, that customer watched his counterparts at Delta reap the benefits of numerous mileage bonus offers, virtually dumping miles into the pockets of passengers and severely diluting the mileage pool.

Meanwhile, program changes continue to cut Worldperks down to the level of Skymiles and defectors leave in droves. At a poll on the frequent flyer website Flyertalk, nearly 30% of passengers queried are leaving the conglomerate to join another airline program, another 20% are leaving at year’s end and 20% are too distraught to know what to do.

Out on the underground mileage exchanges, Delta/Northwest miles have lost their value. Most don’t even bother trying to trade, and one passenger trying to exchange Delta miles for an equal number of competitor miles was laughed at. The best offer so far? A few beverage certificates.

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Passengers protest peanuts, prefer pretzels

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Blame Northwest. Or, blame the merger with Delta. Either way, peanuts are back, and some passengers are pissed.

On February 1, Northwest began dishing out peanuts on flights, which Delta has been doing since dirt was new. The timing isn’t all that hot, given a national salmonella outbreak involving Peanut Corporation of America. And then there are the people who are allergic to peanuts … they’re also far from thrilled with the change.

A commenter on the Star Tribune website (local to Minneapolis, where NWA is headquartered) wrote, “Northwest is really out of touch with its customers and the reality of allergies to peanuts.” Another chimed in, “What’s wrong with pretzels?”

Indeed, what is wrong with pretzels?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3 million people in the United States are allergic to peanuts (or tree nuts). Food allergies cause 30,000 cases of anaphylaxis, 2,000 hospitalizations and 150 deaths every year. On its own, this sucks. On a plane, it’s worse than sitting next to a fat person.

Delta is doing what it can to prevent an in-flight disaster, creating a “buffer zone” of three rows in front of and behind a peanut-allergic person’s seat. And, the airline is advising “cabin service to board additional nonpeanut snacks.” So, flight attendants who are busy with such trivial matters as keeping order on the plane and tending to broader safety issues will have to keep track of the “peanut zone,” as well.

[Via CNN]

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