Delta/Northwest A Confusing Marriage So Far

The merger of Delta and Northwest is sure confusing if you are flying on a Northwest flight. I just flew from Denver to Memphis. Because I am in the industry I knew this has always been a Northwest flight. (I know very little else about the airline industry, but I do know where hubs are and who flies where.) My ticket said Delta. [more]

I went curbside to check luggage. There is no longer a Northwest curbside station as all of them are now Delta. I went to the Delta station and was told that I was flying on Northwest and I would have to check luggage inside. This has something to do with systems from the two airlines that do not speak to each other just yet. This did not make me happy because this now meant I would have to go all the way back to parking and then lug my luggage back to the inside Delta/Northwest counter.

When I arrived at the Delta/Northwest ticket counter there were more people than you can imagine. I am not exaggerating when I say the lines to check luggage and to obtain boarding passes at Delta/Northwest were longer than the security lines once I made it to security.

I felt very sorry for the front line agents as they were catching all of the angry comments and trying to help people who, because of the long lines, were close to missing flights. Whoever at Delta/Northwest that is responsible for this confusion should have to stand in the long lines they have created. If you are flying on either Delta or Northwest and have luggage I suggest you allow a lot of extra time. What a great big mess.


Robert Polk is CEO of Polk Majestic Travel Group in Denver. These insights are excerpted from Robert's weekly newsletter, From the Desk of Robert A. Polk.