Delta Air Lines Ending Checked Baggage Guarantee Program

Delta appears to be eliminating its checked baggage delivery guarantee (“Bags on Time”).

Customers could claim 2,500 miles whenever their bags failed to show up on the carousel within 20 minutes of arrival on a domestic flight. You could request the miles on your phone while standing at baggage claim, and in my experience claims were approved instantly.

When asked about an upcoming elimination of the checked baggage guarantee, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson wouldn’t deny it and only offered, “We have not made any announcement about a change to our program.” (I said in response, “well, if you’d made an announcement I wouldn’t be asking!”)

The person who shared this with me attributed it to the high cost of the program driven by awareness in viral TikTok videos and increasing ‘gaming’ of compensation.

However awareness always seemed high at baggage claim when Delta literally advertised it there:

In July 2009 Alaska Airlines introduced a Baggage Service Guarantee, offering miles or a discount on a future flight if bags took more than 25 minutes to arrive. A year later they reduced that to 20 minutes. (Oddly, Alaska’s website claims that their baggage guarantee was introduced in 2010, but that is not accurate.)

Delta, which competes directly with Alaska in Seattle, followed Alaska with its delivery commitment. Anecdotally passengers tell me they’ve been able to claim Delta’s guarantee more frequently than pre-pandemic. And Delta made it far easier to claim than Alaska – you actually have to go to Alaska’s baggage office within 2 hours of arrival to claim their miles or future discount. So the expected move may be a function of both Delta not being good enough at baggage delivery, and making compensation claims too easy to file.

Southwest (which includes checked bags with its fares), United, JetBlue and American do not offer any checked baggage delivery guarantees – which is unfortunate as bag fees rise. It would be nice to expect a performance standard at a cost that can now be as high as $45 for first checked bag.

Source: https://viewfromthewing.com/author/viewfromthewing/

Travelore News: DOT Orders Termination Of Delta, Aeromexico Partnership

Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico will not be permitted to renew their cross-border joint operations. The US Department of Transportation handed down a tentative ruling late Friday, dismissing the renewal application for grant of antitrust immunity (ATI) for their Joint Cooperation Agreement (JCA) and related alliance agreements. Lacking a successful appeal, the partnership will end on 26 October 2024, allowing time for a controlled unwinding of the integrations and other agreements, without adverse impact to consumers.

The Department is levying blame for the decision squarely on the Mexican government and its actions surrounding access to Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX):

Actions taken by the Mexican government regarding operations at MEX have been raised by the U.S. Government with counterparts at the highest levels within the Government of Mexico in formal consultations as being fundamentally out of compliance with the existing bilateral air service agreement and international norms governing capacity management at airports. After continued consultations that have not altered the current course, the Department tentatively concludes that the condition precedent necessary for consideration and continuation of ATI, namely the adherence by the Government of Mexico to its obligations under the U.S.-Mexico Aviation Agreement, is no longer present.

"Specifically, the DOT calls out the removal of cargo operations at MEX, and reduction of capacity for passenger service at the airport. “The Mexican Government has premised these actions on the need to undertake significant renovation of MEX because of saturation levels at the airport; however, the Mexican Government has more recently conceded that no such construction plans exist but indicated, in a communication to the Department on November 28, that no additional capacity would be added at MEX as long as operational and technical conditions at the airport prevail. As such, there is no valid operational basis on which to undertake the already-enacted capacity reductions and no possibility of new entry at MEX for the foreseeable future.”

Allegiant/Viva Aerobus also impacted

This ruling is in line with the July 2023 move by the department to suspend consideration of the joint venture application of Allegiant and Viva Aerobus. That application also called out the MEX access changes as a key sticking point. The Department notes, “Despite further formal engagement with the Mexican Government, no progress has been made at this time on resolving core issues…”

Given that the current Mexican government shows no signs of changing its tune on MEX, expect that nothing will get better for US airlines or transborder partnerships anytime soon. And with the Mexican government trying to launch its own airline, it is equally unlikely that an appeal from Aeromexico for relief at MEX would fall on sympathetic ears.

Source: https://paxex.aero/