Delta Extending Expiring Tickets, Allowing for Rebooking Until End of Year
by Daniel McCarthy
Delta on Friday announced a 40% cut in capacity, which means 300 of its aircraft will be grounded, and a 30-day ban of flights from Europe. Photo: Shutterstock.com
Delta Air Lines is giving customers more time to change their plans as it becomes more difficult to travel during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Delta will now allow any ticket expiring in March or April to be rebooked for travel until Dec. 31, 2020.
“Whenever your travel may be, rest assured that all changes will be processed and applicable credits will be issued,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote in a message to the airline’s clients and its travel partners this weekend.
Those who you don’t take their flight will have their ticket number automatically become an unused eCredit within 24 hours, Delta said.
“We promise to resolve your issues and sincerely appreciate your patience,” Bastion wrote.
Delta says that other issues, including SkyMiles Medallion Status questions, will be addressed soon but right now the “caring for you continues to be our top priority and our people are working tirelessly across the globe, taking every precaution to make sure that when you are ready to travel, Delta is here for you.”
“As soon as we get through this critical time, we will address questions about what we are doing to help ensure you can continue to enjoy Status and benefits when you fly now, and in the future,” Bastion said.
Route suspensions
Delta on Friday announced a 40% cut in capacity, which means 300 of its aircraft will be grounded, and a 30-day ban of flights from Europe in response to the ongoing battle against the spread of COVID-19.
On Sunday, Delta added a number of temporary route suspensions.
Those included Latin American service—New York JFK to Bogota, which will be suspended starting on March 18; Atlanta to Bogota, which will be suspended starting on March 25; Atlanta to Cartagena, which will be suspended starting on March 23.
Suspensions also included service to Saint Maarten—the last Atlanta to St. Maarten flight will operate on March 18; and the last New York JFK to St. Maarten will now fly on March 17.
A waiver for all bookings with flights that are now suspended is available on the Delta website.
Focus on cleanliness
For the routes that Delta is continuing to fly, Delta says its team is “going above and beyond the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to ensure your safety.”
Delta says that in the midst of the pandemic, it is building on an everyday “focus on cleanliness and continually assessing ways to enhance safety throughout the travel experience.”
“This includes disinfecting check-in kiosks regularly, more frequently cleaning and disinfecting gate areas, and doubling down on our regular aircraft cleaning. We’ve added a fogging process to disinfect most transoceanic flights and are quickly securing more equipment to expand fogging to even more flights,” Basion wrote in his letter.
