Delta Airlines Forced to sit i JFK for 8 hours, only got a $7 meal voucher for 2 meals, then lost our luggage Atlanta Georgia

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing in regards to Delta flight 4993 from Syracuse, NY to JFK leaving at 6:10 AM on March 20, 2008. My father and I were supposed to connect in JFK to flight 1880 to Tampa Bay, Florida. Our flight out of Syracuse was almost two hours late in taking off. We were told that the Boston Central control center had halted all flights, which if true, was not Delta's fault. That wasn't even really the problem though. It was the uncourteous service we received.

When we rushed into the terminal in hopes of making our flight, there was a Delta agent near the gate who was supposed to tell people what gate to go to for their connections. When we asked him if our flight had left yet. He said that he didn't know and refused to look it up. He told us we would have to go check at the gate. By the time we ran to the other terminal, found out that the flight left 30 minutes ago, and ran back, there was a huge line at the customer service counter.

When we finally got to the front, the Delta agent, who looked very annoyed that we dared to disturb him, told us the next flight wasn't for another 8 hours. He refused to check with other airlines to see if they had seats available. He then told us that he booked us seats on that flight. We later found out that he had lied, we were actually on standby, he didn't explain that though. After finally persuading him to give us two $7 meal vouchers, we left to wander the airport for 8 hours.

During this time, at home, when my mother called to check on the status of our flight from Syracuse to JFK, she was told that they didn't know, and an agent said Didn't it land already? So much for timely and up to date information.

We did finally end up on that flight and got to Tampa only about 10 hours late. That wasn't the end of the problems, though. When we were waiting at the baggage carousel, after a half hour went by, we realized that our bags weren't there. Only about half the flight's baggage came. We were told that the rest somehow went to Atlanta, GA. That added another hour delay. By then we had missed our dinner reservations.

Ben
Jamesville, New York
U.S.A.