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Team Flight Charter Not on Delta?

R

RT3413

All-American
Sep 14, 2004
2,176
0
55
Atlanta, GA
I was looking at the photos of the team's arrival in New Orleans and thought the plane looked odd... I went and looked and they used a combination of two charter airlines instead of the normal Delta charter they've used for years. Anyone have any idea what might have changed? I loved getting the reports on here from the members of the crew that worked the flight (one of whom, BTW, I met on a flight and was absolutely wonderful to me and my family!) and would hate to not have that anymore!

Any insight?
 
Isaiah 63:1 said:
They flew on National Airlines. An AvGeek buddy of mine said simply that Delta did not have the necessary aircraft to accommodate the charter schedule. Given how aggressively airlines have shed seats since 2007 (they call it "capacity discipline"), I can believe that.
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Majority of Delta flts and other carriers taken up w/OSU fans flying down in great multitudes. Glad its w/in driving distance for most Bama fans. Flying is pretty much out of the question.
 
Isaiah 63:1 said:
They flew on National Airlines. An AvGeek buddy of mine said simply that Delta did not have the necessary aircraft to accommodate the charter schedule. Given how aggressively airlines have shed seats since 2007 (they call it "capacity discipline"), I can believe that.
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Sadly he was right. We are short on aircraft and pilots. I was beyond disappointed when I was told about the situation. I've flown them off and on for years, and I've been part of the dedicated Crimson Crew that has flown them to every game and White House visit for the past 3 seasons. We have never flown them home and back from a loss in that time, and I've never flown them after a loss EVER so they definitely wanted us LOL. Just didn't work out logistics wise. :(
 
I think she is great and really look forward to her post here. However the company she works for Delta ( Doesnt Ever Leave The Airport) . I fly too much and to be honest they all sux, Delta just does such a much of a better job at it than other airlines. I am waiting for Deltas next press release. The official airlines of the Aubarn Tigers ( The Gus Bus ran out of Gas).
 
My only real complaint with Delta is having to sleep in Hartsfield at the end of January. They were not proactive enough in foreseeing and planning ahead for the logjam. I ended up having 13 flights canceled and Alaska Airlines got me home to HSV. All the way driving me down to the airport in Stuttgart, my daughter begged me to cancel and stay one or two more days. She predicted disaster - town iced over, no hotel rooms, no way to get crews there to make flights out, even to get equipment in. She was obviously right on all counts. Why couldn't Delta foresee it?
 
TIDE-HSV said:
My only real complaint with Delta is having to sleep in Hartsfield at the end of January. They were not proactive enough in foreseeing and planning ahead for the logjam. I ended up having 13 flights canceled and Alaska Airlines got me home to HSV. All the way driving me down to the airport in Stuttgart, my daughter begged me to cancel and stay one or two more days. She predicted disaster - town iced over, no hotel rooms, no way to get crews there to make flights out, even to get equipment in. She was obviously right on all counts. Why couldn't Delta foresee it?
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was this during the snow storm last year? i was on one of a very few flights to leave that night, and the 777 was maybe 1/3 full. it is one of the few times in my many flights with delta that i had severe delays. i think we finally left about 5 hours after scheduled departure.
 
92tide said:
was this during the snow storm last year? i was on one of a very few flights to leave that night, and the 777 was maybe 1/3 full. it is one of the few times in my many flights with delta that i had severe delays. i think we finally left about 5 hours after scheduled departure.
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Yes, the ice storm. There was a lot of misplaced criticism over the rest of the country about being shut down by 2" of snow, but it was underlain by a layer of ice. It was nasty. I'm not blaming the weather on Delta, just their stubborn unwillingness to recognize the potential and cancelling flights into Atlanta earlier, thereby avoiding the buildup of trapped people. The first night, I spent in the terminal, with a predator in a hoodie and no sign of baggage following me around and settling down near me while eying my baggage. The second night, my wife's nephew drove from around 30 minutes north of the airport and picked me up, so I had some decent food and a decent place to sleep. I rushed down on MARTA the next AM to another cancelled flight. I finally got out around 7:30 that night, with our nephew poised to rescue me again, if necessary. Delta's remedy? Bestowed 25K miles on my FF card...
 
TIDE-HSV said:
Yes, the ice storm. There was a lot of misplaced criticism over the rest of the country about being shut down by 2" of snow, but it was underlain by a layer of ice. It was nasty. I'm not blaming the weather on Delta, just their stubborn unwillingness to recognize the potential and cancelling flights into Atlanta earlier, thereby avoiding the buildup of trapped people. The first night, I spent in the terminal, with a predator in a hoodie and no sign of baggage following me around and settling down near me while eying my baggage. The second night, my wife's nephew drove from around 30 minutes north of the airport and picked me up, so I had some decent food and a decent place to sleep. I rushed down on MARTA the next AM to another cancelled flight. I finally got out around 7:30 that night, with our nephew poised to rescue me again, if necessary. Delta's remedy? Bestowed 25K miles on my FF card...
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25k can get you $150 in gift cards to Ruth's Chris ;)
 
TIDE-HSV said:
Yes, the ice storm. There was a lot of misplaced criticism over the rest of the country about being shut down by 2" of snow, but it was underlain by a layer of ice. It was nasty. I'm not blaming the weather on Delta, just their stubborn unwillingness to recognize the potential and cancelling flights into Atlanta earlier, thereby avoiding the buildup of trapped people. The first night, I spent in the terminal, with a predator in a hoodie and no sign of baggage following me around and settling down near me while eying my baggage. The second night, my wife's nephew drove from around 30 minutes north of the airport and picked me up, so I had some decent food and a decent place to sleep. I rushed down on MARTA the next AM to another cancelled flight. I finally got out around 7:30 that night, with our nephew poised to rescue me again, if necessary. Delta's remedy? Bestowed 25K miles on my FF card...
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that was a crazy day all around. there was a lot of stubbornness everywhere leading to problems. what i found funny was the folks that were stuck in the airport basically pub crawling the different terminals. my flight didn't board until 10-11pm or so (didn't leave until 2am) and the international terminal was dead. it was weird seeing any place in hartsfield so empty.

i was in dubai and then germany on that trip and got mocked endlessly by those who had seen it on the news.
 
TIDE-HSV said:
Yes, the ice storm. There was a lot of misplaced criticism over the rest of the country about being shut down by 2" of snow, but it was underlain by a layer of ice. It was nasty. I'm not blaming the weather on Delta, just their stubborn unwillingness to recognize the potential and cancelling flights into Atlanta earlier, thereby avoiding the buildup of trapped people. The first night, I spent in the terminal, with a predator in a hoodie and no sign of baggage following me around and settling down near me while eying my baggage. The second night, my wife's nephew drove from around 30 minutes north of the airport and picked me up, so I had some decent food and a decent place to sleep. I rushed down on MARTA the next AM to another cancelled flight. I finally got out around 7:30 that night, with our nephew poised to rescue me again, if necessary. Delta's remedy? Bestowed 25K miles on my FF card...
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The storm hit way earlier than expected and caught most of the city off guard. My kids were on a field trip downtown and we worried and worried they wouldn't make it home (I left work at noon, as soon as the rain started) Nobody expected the roads to be bad until about 4:30-5:30 but they started getting bad at 1:30 in some places, and they were much worse than expected. My kids got home safely and even made it in time for normal bus routes. Atlanta is never prepared for these things, and probably won't ever be, its just not cost effective to maintain a fleet of something that would rarely be used. I would however expect the busiest airport in the world to have some sort of plan. and it was more like 3-4 inches of snow more in some places, but there was a solid 1/2 inch of ice under it all.
 
TIDEnGA said:
Sadly he was right. We are short on aircraft and pilots. I was beyond disappointed when I was told about the situation. I've flown them off and on for years, and I've been part of the dedicated Crimson Crew that has flown them to every game and White House visit for the past 3 seasons. We have never flown them home and back from a loss in that time, and I've never flown them after a loss EVER so they definitely wanted us LOL. Just didn't work out logistics wise. :(
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If you're not going to fly there with them as a flight attendant, they ought to take you as a good luck charm. :)
 
Anyone else notice that Ohio State flew in on a 747? Seems a bit much...

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nickel42 said:
Anyone else notice that Ohio State flew in on a 747? Seems a bit much...

-454d9c2cf9612b63.JPG
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Actually not uncommon at all. The schools that did charter Delta were offered a 747. FSU and a few others are using Delta 747's. A 747 can't land at TCL so that wasn't an option for us.
 
We used a 757 and a 737... about the same pax load as one 747. As noted the runways at TCL won't support a 747.

Auburn chartered a 747 to Pasadena last year but had to bus to Atlanta to fly out.
 
Gotcha, I thought we'd only used the 757, I wasn't aware of the additional 737. Our typical equipment for road games is just one 757 though, right?
 
irNate said:
The storm hit way earlier than expected and caught most of the city off guard. My kids were on a field trip downtown and we worried and worried they wouldn't make it home (I left work at noon, as soon as the rain started) Nobody expected the roads to be bad until about 4:30-5:30 but they started getting bad at 1:30 in some places, and they were much worse than expected. My kids got home safely and even made it in time for normal bus routes. Atlanta is never prepared for these things, and probably won't ever be, its just not cost effective to maintain a fleet of something that would rarely be used. I would however expect the busiest airport in the world to have some sort of plan. and it was more like 3-4 inches of snow more in some places, but there was a solid 1/2 inch of ice under it all.
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I'm aware of all that and I don't really blame the various municipalities.. (Do I remember something like 60 overlapping?) The crazy quilt is unmanageable for something like that. What I blame Delta for is continuing to funnel people into a hopeless dead end. Years ago, Delta decided to place all their apples in one barrel, so they had little latitude to offload to other hubs. I really wished I had followed my daughter's advice (she has logged many millions of miles in flight), canceled my ticket and fought it out with Delta on the refund.

Here in HSV, we get "inconvenience" snows every couple of years. Christmas, 2010, we had about 8" on the mountain and about 4" in the valley, which largely melted off rapidly. Ours hung around for about two weeks, at which time we got a about a 10" on the mountain and about 8" in the valley, which stuck, since the valley was well below freezing at that time. However, the plows and salt trucks sprung into action and got the main thoroughfares cleared quickly. (On my little dead end, we have to wait a while longer and use the 4x4 Tacoma or the AWD Subaru.) About five years ago, I'd taken my little Miata to an early MD appt and, when I got out, there was already about 2" on the ground and I ended up having to follow a salt truck up to the mountain. In HSV, as spread out geographically as it is, snow removal can still be managed. Back in the 70s, there was a mayor here, been in office several terms, who made the same excuse you did for ATL. He lost and the next mayor spent millions on snow removal equipment...
 
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