Delta: Gunfire and battles in the streets not enough for cancellation waiver

While gun battles rage in the streets of Jamaica, Delta Air Lines is sticking to its guns and still charging hefty cancellation penalties for passengers who choose to avoid the war zone.

It seems, airlines don’t like to give out waivers. Once they have money in hand for a nonrefundable ticket they like to keep it. Especially Delta Air Lines.

One would think that sometimes, situations dictate, for safety reasons, a waiver is the only option. This might be in the case of a severe hurricane, massive earthquake or impending danger of some kind at the destination.

Recently, for example, airlines allowed certain changes to be made during the volcanic ash crisis in Europe and with the political situation in Thailand. There were several times last winter where passengers could make changes due to storms.

Often these changes are in the airlines’ best economic as well as public relations interests. The last thing they need is obligations towards stranded passengers.

But as one of our readers just discovered, these changes and waivers are somewhere between capricious and arbitrary.

Most issues my clients have with waivers have to do with weather problems. Because despite the waivers airlines do issue, they often will not allow changes for, say, expected thunderstorms, although even a small thunderstorm in Chicago can disrupt travel all day.

This reader, however, who asked to remain anonymous, had to deal with a much more potentially disruptive problem. She and some university colleagues were scheduled to travel to Kingston, Jamaica last week.

As the reader noted in an email, on Friday, May 21st, the Government of Jamaica issued a state of emergency on the island. Which prompted the following alert from the US Government:

Jamaican Defense Forces are engaged in an operation to arrest an alleged drug and weapons trafficker. Access to the Norman Manley International Airport has been blocked on an intermittent basis by gun battles between criminal elements and police. A number of air flights into and out of Kingston have been canceled. The Government of Jamaica has imposed a State of Emergency in Kingston and St. Andrew. The possibility exists that unrest could spread beyond the general Kingston area. U.S. Embassy Kingston is taking extra security precautions, including canceling official travel by USG personnel into Kingston.

So we are not talking potential here, we are talking “gun battles on the way to the airport.” She and some colleagues called Delta Air Lines customer service but was told Delta was “unaware” of anything occurring in Jamaica. Customer service intoned, changes or cancellations would result in the standard penalties.

Now, according to the BBC as of May 26th, “At least 44 people have died during fighting between police and gunmen in the current anti-drug offensive in Kingston.”

Clearly, airline reservation agents cannot be expected to keep on top of everything that happens in the world, especially as political demonstrations are common all over. But the situation in Jamaica was clearly extraordinary.

The travelers in this situation, who postponed their trip indefinitely, have written to Delta Consumer Care in hopes of being able to use their tickets later without penalty. It shouldn’t have come to this.

Airlines should have some supervisors in reservations that make it part of their job to stay on top of weather and world events. Or, perhaps, a rule that when the State Department says, “Don’t fly,” that waiver penalties are lifted. At least clients could plead their case with someone knowledgeable.

This current situation when customer service agents are refusing cancellation penalty waivers while gun battles rage int he streets of Jamaica, benefits no one. Passengers are losing and the already-shaky customer-service reputation of Delta Air Lines is taking a hit.