Delta Delta Delta How May I Helpya Helpya Helpya?

On the best of days, air travel is a grueling, exhausting, elbow-to-elbow, ego-reducing experience. On the worst of days, it's downright medieval. This summer's travails were aviation's modern-day equivalent of the 30 Years War--a battle with forces well beyond the control of mere mortals with repercussions that have irrevocably changed the way customers deal with airlines.

When you think objectively about flying, for you to depart and arrive on time, in one piece, with your luggage, requires a choreography well beyond our understanding (unless you've been in the military and either participated in a theater-wide operation like REFORGER or been deployed).

Just as one person can set this intricate choreography irretrievably off-track, so can one person make a positive difference.

I encountered a Delta employee who today in my travels made a positive difference, and I want to publicly acknowledge Sondra (who works in Fort Lauderdale) for her help.

My ticket was somehow screwed up, and I didn't know about it until I got to the airport to check in. The kiosk where I tried to check in actually ate my credit card, so there I was, with a confirmation number but no credit card and no idea of how my ticket was screwed up. I was becoming increasingly frustrated, and thought to myself, "typical, no agent in sight."

Well, out of the mist (ok, maybe it was out of the crowd) comes this vision in blue. As if selecting me personally from the other frowning travelers, she literally took me by the hand. Instead of asking me what my problem was, she took charge: She flicked open the machine and withdrew my card. She then looked at my ticket (which was also stuck in the kiosk) and said, "I'll be right back."

This was before I had said anything!

Ten minutes passed... during which I thought that she was an apparition and I was destined to remain eternally rooted in front of the kiosk. Sondra returned with a crisp boarding pass, two drink tickets, and profuse apologies. She said, "I hope you'll remember how we fixed the problem, not the problem itself."

Flying may once have been the privilege of the rich, who flew about in pampered style. It has since become an aerial bus, with very little personalized service other than the ignored safety message or hasty in-flight service (if that!). Today, a blue-uniformed Delta angel made me feel special, and I wanted to share that with all of you who have given up on your expectations of personalized service from the airline industry.