Delta's decrepit welcome mat to the world
Today we broaden a smidgen from our usual cruise-centric commentary to include the world of air travel, specifically the welcome (or not) extended to foreign visitors arriving at Delta's international hub at JFK airport in New York. In a nutshell: it's shockingly bad.
We've had the good fortune to sample the international arrivals facilities at quite a few world-wide airports recently, from Berlin to Istanbul, but none present a less appealing first impression to visitors than Delta's terminal 3.
The once-majestic Pan Am Worldport now features shopworn fixtures, antique elevators, perpetual overheating, almost 15-year-old Delta logos, and a leaky roof complete with water stains and jury-rigged drip hoses. And downstairs, the international arrivals facilities are just plain nasty.
Once you've reclaimed and rechecked your luggage, it's time to head through security again. The checkpoint was shoehorned into a corner and is always very hot (even in winter). You'd think the solution would be to fix the climate control, but no, the solution is to install a single huge fan to blow the hot air around.
We had to laugh because the one seated TSA woman guarding the beginning of the line to this checkpoint was being watched by two standing TSA guys engaged in a jovial conversation about their plans for the weekend. We tried to get one of the two otherwise-unoccupied conversationalists to check our documents but were redirected to the line formed behind the seated woman. Asking one of the talkers what his role was, he stated the obvious: "Our job is to watch her do her job." Hey, at least he's honest.
Once you've made it through the cramped security checkpoint, which offers only four chairs for shoe replacement to the masses of humanity coming through, the next obstacle is an escalator upstairs that doesn't work, and there's no other option like an elevator. A few weeks ago we guessed the escalator had been out of order for some time, judging by what appeared to be the rotting food ground into the little crevices in each step.
This week, it's still out of order and still looks as if it hasn't moved an inch in an eternity. At the bottom of the escalator, we encountered confounded parents with a stroller and a young woman with a broken foot, both puzzling over how to proceed. They struggled up. Welcome to America.
Delta seems aware of the pathetic state of their interconnected terminals 2 and 3, as ongoing construction in terminal 2 spruces up the business class check-in facilities. Not even several Delta employees we quizzed were willing to defend the sad state of affairs in the terminal 3 international arrivals area, and none had heard of any renovations being scheduled. We made a slight detour to ask the same question, again, at an official information desk, but alas, the Delta employee there was snoozing soundly and we hadn't the heart to interrupt his blissful slumber.
We also laughed out loud to find a nice-looking brewpub--without any brew. The icing on the cake.
Finally, to put this commentary in context, we like Delta! After having racked up platinum-level frequent-flier status two years running on the recovering-from-bankruptcy airline, clearly they're trying to do a lot of things right.
For example, best-in-class technology delivers terrific Web-based reservation management and check-in, airport kiosks with advanced capabilities like international flight check-in and first-class upgrades, and waiting-area displays whose useful information makes waiting in line to ask questions unnecessary.
We'll shower more kudos on the tasty shaken cocktails available on most flights, and the responsiveness we've experienced more often than average from telephone customer service folks.
But all that being said, for Pete's sake, can we please stop embarrassing ourselves in the eyes of the arriving world with this moth-eaten welcome mat? At least fix the escalator!
We've had the good fortune to sample the international arrivals facilities at quite a few world-wide airports recently, from Berlin to Istanbul, but none present a less appealing first impression to visitors than Delta's terminal 3.
The once-majestic Pan Am Worldport now features shopworn fixtures, antique elevators, perpetual overheating, almost 15-year-old Delta logos, and a leaky roof complete with water stains and jury-rigged drip hoses. And downstairs, the international arrivals facilities are just plain nasty.
Once you've reclaimed and rechecked your luggage, it's time to head through security again. The checkpoint was shoehorned into a corner and is always very hot (even in winter). You'd think the solution would be to fix the climate control, but no, the solution is to install a single huge fan to blow the hot air around.
We had to laugh because the one seated TSA woman guarding the beginning of the line to this checkpoint was being watched by two standing TSA guys engaged in a jovial conversation about their plans for the weekend. We tried to get one of the two otherwise-unoccupied conversationalists to check our documents but were redirected to the line formed behind the seated woman. Asking one of the talkers what his role was, he stated the obvious: "Our job is to watch her do her job." Hey, at least he's honest.
Once you've made it through the cramped security checkpoint, which offers only four chairs for shoe replacement to the masses of humanity coming through, the next obstacle is an escalator upstairs that doesn't work, and there's no other option like an elevator. A few weeks ago we guessed the escalator had been out of order for some time, judging by what appeared to be the rotting food ground into the little crevices in each step.
This week, it's still out of order and still looks as if it hasn't moved an inch in an eternity. At the bottom of the escalator, we encountered confounded parents with a stroller and a young woman with a broken foot, both puzzling over how to proceed. They struggled up. Welcome to America.Delta seems aware of the pathetic state of their interconnected terminals 2 and 3, as ongoing construction in terminal 2 spruces up the business class check-in facilities. Not even several Delta employees we quizzed were willing to defend the sad state of affairs in the terminal 3 international arrivals area, and none had heard of any renovations being scheduled. We made a slight detour to ask the same question, again, at an official information desk, but alas, the Delta employee there was snoozing soundly and we hadn't the heart to interrupt his blissful slumber.
We also laughed out loud to find a nice-looking brewpub--without any brew. The icing on the cake.Finally, to put this commentary in context, we like Delta! After having racked up platinum-level frequent-flier status two years running on the recovering-from-bankruptcy airline, clearly they're trying to do a lot of things right.
For example, best-in-class technology delivers terrific Web-based reservation management and check-in, airport kiosks with advanced capabilities like international flight check-in and first-class upgrades, and waiting-area displays whose useful information makes waiting in line to ask questions unnecessary.
We'll shower more kudos on the tasty shaken cocktails available on most flights, and the responsiveness we've experienced more often than average from telephone customer service folks.
But all that being said, for Pete's sake, can we please stop embarrassing ourselves in the eyes of the arriving world with this moth-eaten welcome mat? At least fix the escalator!
