Delta Air Lines Reviews

Pros

Working for Delta in Airport Customer Service is constantly changing, as you never have the same day twice because the passengers are different day to day. In addition, the pass benefits are great--flying for free virtually anywhere in the world now thanks to the Northwest acquisition. That opened up Asia. You can go to Ireland one weekend, Singapore the next.

Cons

The Performance Leader position evolved into one that had A LOT of stress and pressure added to it, and I took a voluntary package because of it. In addition my corporate director didn't help things by only being concerned with numbers. The director forgot his subordinates were human beings. I saw him in the operation only twice in the time he was hired to the time I took the package (about 8 months).

Pros

Taking time off is easy, but you dont get paid for it.

By far the best perk is free standby flights ANYWHERE.

Cons

Awful managing style. The industry is very regulated (for safety) but that makes doing any actual work a very slow, tedious process.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire postie, upbeat managers.

Pros

Excellent travel benefits, coworkers can make the time pass quickly, ability to travel the world if you can get the days off.

Cons

Management at JFK is subpar, Performace Leaders are fearful of losing their positions and try to intimidate subordinates, Medallion members are given free reign to treat frontline employees however they choose

Advice to Senior Management

Treat frontline employees better. They deal with the most and get the least. Customer satisfaction will only improve when employee morale increases.

Pros

If you like to travel for free then I guess that is a benefit. If you like to see airplanes and visit the engineer offices to see how they design cool things then that is a pro.

Cons

If you work in the Recruitment office, you are not really part of Delta. Centralized recruiting caused a disconnect and mistrust between recruiters and hiring managers because they were physically located in different buildings.
- Management has no clear people strategy and no concern for engaging people.
- Recruiters are expected to be carbon copies and continue doing the "wrong thing righter".
- Management's disdain for people and singular focus on revenue is disheartening.

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to be completely replaced - beginning with the CEO. The problem is that the culture is rotten and not people focused. There is a reason why Delta has low customer services scores for travelers. If a company treats its own internal customers (employees) bad, how can they have the philosophy to treat external customers well

Pros

Flight benefits are terrific. Leadership is very competent in TechOps. Very flexible, free, and fun. Cool factor for an engineer is high. People are great in TechOps.

Cons

Pay for Engineers is abysmal, less than a comparable mechanic and significantly less (30%+) than merged NWA engineers. Education reimbursement is poor.

Advice to Senior Management

Pretty simple: Reward performers and fire non-performers.

I don't expect industry standard pay, considering the benefits of a great place to work, but pay level and disparity need to be adjusted from laughable. Engineers are a cynical bunch, but the situation negatively affects morale to the point that it actually impacts performance. All the "go getters" leave when their talents are recognized, and the only ones left are people who punch the timecard for a check. It's kind of confirmation bias at that point, because it's evident that the remainder aren't worth very much; so why change the pay?

I cannot remember the last person who was fired for inadequate performance, unrelated to a layoff. (2006 maybe?) That's not good. There's a happy median between Jack Welch and Welfare. Perhaps we're a bit too close to the latter.

Pros

Flight benefits are wonderful and the health care benefits are better than most I have seen or heard about

Cons

Delta does not care about employees. It is just about the numbers

Advice to Senior Management

I believe every manager should go through at least 2 months of training. How to deal with different nationality, culture, races and sexes.

Pros

The free flights and the chance to work in a dynamic environment. I also love airports. Delta is also a leader in its field

Cons

The wage isn't very good for customer service positions. It also appears that the airline industry is not a safe place to work with the uncertainty over the future.

Advice to Senior Management

None. Keep up the good work. They work hard in what is a difficult environment at times. Perhaps reduce staff and then pay better.

Pros

Great benefits including flights, health, medical, dental, vision, 401k and discounts with numerous partners. As a large company there are lots opportunities for advancement, especially if you are willing to relocate.

Cons

The industry as a whole does not pay a living wage for customer service positions and Delta is no exception.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work. Continue to gather feedback from employees that work directly with passengers in order to maintain strong, positive relations with those employees.

Pros

If you are a recent MBA grad with the enthusiasm and IQ of a puppy you will go far with the post-merger management team.

Travel benefits
Great co-workers

Cons

Legacy Delta employees with real-world airline industry experience are being pushed out post-merger.

While I indicated great co-workers as a "pro" above, recently more and more employees being promoted into management are ruthless, immoral, and/or woefully inexperienced and clueless.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize that experienced people bring a lot to the table. I have recently seen first-hand several situations where inexperienced employees have missed opportunities or made errors that resulted in lost revenue opportunities or had a negative impact on customers. These errors could have been avoided if management did not encourage whole-scale musical chairs in important departments.

Pros

Flight Benefits, available hours if you want to work a lot.

Cons

Management is very confused, this may be a product of the merger with NWA. Delta is obviously "union busting".

Advice to Senior Management

Get organized and communicate more effectively with employees. Stop manipulating your employees with anti-union rhetoric.