Delta tweets insults at Ann Coulter. Still want to fly Delta?

Columnist Ann Coulter is a tall woman, and apparently, she spent some time selecting the right sort of seat for a person who needs more legroom on frequent flights, perhaps to avoid deep-vein thrombosis, or perhaps to fly more comfortably. She spent the time and paid the extra money to get an aisle seat in an emergency row on a Delta flight, which would have done the job.

For some reason, as the flight was boarding, the airline decided to move her seat to the window in the same row and seat a group of other passengers, perhaps because they had requested to be seated together. It might have been OK had the flight attendant pleaded for her cooperation; offered her a free something extra, maybe a drink; and apologized for the airline's poor planning or failed capacity to please all its customers. Instead, the attendant decided to go bureaucratic and stony, telling Coulter "I don't know" when asked why the seat Coulter paid extra for was being moved to a less desirable area. It was a perfect opportunity to coax a cooperative attitude, but instead, it lit the fuse on an angry, unsatisfied customer, which seems contrary to Delta's mission. All they had to do was say why, apologize, and ask for cooperation.

Instead of seriously apologizing for its failure to live up to their contract, which left Coulter on a miserable flight – and that is what this was – Delta decided, incredibly, to hurl a storm of sarcastic customer-service-type canned mechanical apologies, mock the $30 she paid, and then add some invective at her on Twitter. A few samples from the unhappy customer and the big airline's corporate office:

The airlines have become just cattle cars with wings and treat passengers with contemp. There is no more customer service or even common sense left. Perhaps someday some airline will figure it out and give good service, treat passengers well and not try to nickel and dime their customers with ridiculous fees for things that should be included in the fare.

It was really insulting that Delta chose to make it look like her complaints were all about the $30. The complaint was about not getting what she paid for. I am 6’5” and usually pay $60 or more for the extra legroom seats. If I were moved like that, I would be pissed as well, and a $60 refund would not be the answer.

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