After yesterday, I felt I really needed to post this.
I fly primarily Alaska Airlines. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ve never fully said why. My flight on Delta yesterday should give you a good reason as to why.
Whenever I fly, no matter what airline, I always bring a $3 bag of Hershey’s Miniatures for the flight crew. It’s just something that I do. I have many flight attendant friends, and I know what they go through on a daily basis. Trust me, it’s not always glamorous and fun.
So when I get on, say, a Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air flight, the reaction is always the same. The person I hand the chocolates gets a big smile on their face, and they ask something to the effect of, “For me? For us? Really?” And at that point, I either get a thank you or the biggest hug possible. When I was flying American Airlines every week, I usually had the same flight crews – and often I would come down the jet bridge, and would here someone on the plane get on the PA and say, “Here comes the candy man!” The flight crews on US Airways were almost as animated and thankful.
So I flew on 4 Delta flights this week. Two of the times that I gave chocolate, absolutely NONE of that happened. What happened? The first time, the flight attendant basically rolled their eyes and took the chocolate, then turned to throw it away. When I said that it was a treat for her and the crew, she “got it”, and said thanks.
Yesterday when I was flying home, I handed the bag of chocolate to the lead FA as I was boarding the plane. What did he do? Without asking or anything, he just turned around and threw the bag in the garbage. I stood there kind of stunned for a second, then shook my head and walked to my seat.
I get people who tell me I should fly Delta all the time. Why? Seriously, why should I put up with the vapidity of a flight crew that many times a week? It’s just not worth it. As my seatmate on the plane yesterday told me, “I get treated better in Coach on Alaska Airlines than I do in First Class on Delta.” And you know what? He couldn’t be more right.