It begins last night- meetings, meetings, some work, packing(11:30-11:35pm), sleeping (optional), morning (4:30 or so), coffee (essential), meeting, working, 6am or so, better run to LGA, arriving, take out your laptop, shoes, belt, jacket, put them back on, avoid the TSA lady that screams at you for the fact that the beg fell on the laptop and she needed to scan it twice, go through, put the jacket back, run to the gate, avoid gate-lice, stopping for a moment, should I take a picture of all gate-lice for future classification under this thread? heck, I need some overhead bin space, the definition of carry-on these days is… watch the GA handling the gatelice, get on board, find someone at my seat, see that he insists on chaning seats, oh-well, 3B and 4B are alike, not worth the trouble, finding overhead space, watch the safety presentsation,practice “finger wagging” (can’t wait to meet Deltania), 30 minutes taxi, takeoff, one coffee (… American Coffee, When would the espresso machines come on board?), having the person who took my 3B lean back enough to block my laptop screen, and almost ‘kill’ the coffee, touch base with work emails (one bad result of gogo), figure out the interface of liveflyer, check FT, read again the agenda, and know one thing:

It’s all worth it, because @ 37,100 feet, I am heading to the BEST.FIELD.TRIP.EVER. Can’t wait.

After many months of anticipation and 3677 posts (and counting) on the FlyerTalk thread, The 2010 Second Annual Delta Air Lines FlyerTalk Event starts today!   This is my first FlyerTalk DO, and I am so excited.   I have been telling people about this event nonstop for the last week or so, and pretty much everyone (especially my colleagues at the office) think I’m insane.   They don’t understand why anyone would come to such an event.   Their loss, because this will be the best.field.trip.ever!

I am extremely excited to get this behind the scenes look at Delta.  From the meeting with the executives, to the tours of the Operations Control Center and TechOps, to Road Warrior Training, it is going to be amazing.  And I cannot explain in words how excited I am for our opportunity to be gate agents this weekend.

A huge thanks to all of the organizers and volunteers, especially atldlff and Canarsie.   The amount of work you all have put into this event is extraordinary, and I know I speak for all of the attendees in expressing our gratitude.

Time to get to sleep so the morning will come more quickly and airline camp will begin!

Hope everyone is getting excited about the upcoming event.   I took a few moments this morning to pull together some numbers around the technology behind the event.

128 registrations including general registration, volunteers and VIP’s.
12,540 page views to www.atldo.com
1834 e-mails in my inbox alone

Needless to say this event has been in planning for over a year now and the fun hasn’t even started yet.  See everyone in 8 days!!!!

Maybe it’s the ‘professor’ in me, or maybe that’s the overwork for my forthcomming projects, or maybe it’s a combination of them all…

I looked today into the Master Thread for the Q&A with the DL exceutives. (Go there now, if you have’nt done so yet). It’s growing, and it’s slowy taking an organized form. But, I want the Executives to understand our frustration (from the economics point of view). We have a ‘taste based’ discrimination for Delta. That is, we are willing to take certain things on the short run, to get better service, better preference, better outcomes overtime. All I ask for now are the small actions that go alone way. Avoiding them burns the good will. We want some of the small things ot be handled, when they can (now), and to completion (ok, tomorrow).

Here are two examples:

*Take a look at the number of questions regarding the award calender. I am willing to give you a challange: Go now to the award calender and book a nonstop flight from JFK to CDG. Anyday. Any seat. Let’ s not even discuss the mileage pricing. You can not convince me that it is not available. It is just a problem ‘talking’ with the AF computers. If the agents can do it over the phone, why can’t the calender do that?

* I emailed with an inquiry about “well done certificates” on 10/2. I sent a reminder on 10/8 (BTW, I am a DM). I got an answer today stating that the email arrived to the medallion desk only today. It is not the first time, not the second. How hard it is to route an email correctly? Last time it was about a seat assignment loss that was pretty urgent (luckly, the flight was cancelled). The other time it was about incorrect booking. It does not take alot to ensure that emails to the DM desk actually arrive to the DM desk. If you can even make sure that the calls arrive to the DM desk (sometimes they don’t), it would be great.

Here is my thought-can we make a list of small things that can really improve our experience? I mean really small…

*Bigger than micro toothpaste on the BE packet. *Recongtion of my phone number when I call and auto re-route (It’s done on other airlines). *Award calender colors that fit the availability (is green the new red?) , and maybe, just maybe- show us the good will. Put some of the changes in place before the end of this year (2010, that is)

Sorry, that’s my rant of the day…

Now, back to the count down to the BEST FIELD TRIP EVER. I get one day as work from home in exchange to a full video inside the SIM… now, that’s best-in-class

With so many of us coming from all over the U.S. and the world for the DO I wanted to remind people about minimizing the risk of spreading bedbugs. The hotel where many people are staying has had one report of bed bugs:

http://bedbugregistry.com/hotel/GA/Atlanta/Hilton-Atlanta-Airport

Which is actually quite good for a hotel its size. Having bedbugs is NOT an indication of poor house keeping or poor hygiene. Bed bugs are spread by PEOPLE so any place that has lots of people coming through is susceptible.

These two links discuss inspecting any hotel room when you first arrive:

http://membracid.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/how-to-inspect-your-hotel-room-for-bed-bugs/

http://insects.about.com/od/insectssociety/a/avoid-bed-bugs-in-hotel-rooms.htm

And this one has A LOT of general information:

http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/whats_bugging_you/bed_bugs/bedbugs_faqs.asp

If you are based in the Atlanta area and will be one of the event attendees of Walk a Mile with Atlanta Customer Service who will be a Delta Air Lines gate agent for the morning, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution would like to interview you before your “shift.”

At least two attendees based in the Atlanta area have been requested for an interview.

Because atl runner, atldlff and I have already been through the “dry run,” we would not be ideal candidates for the interview.

If you are interested, please contact me as soon as possible with your contact information and I will pass your name on…

Funny thing has been happening as we get closer to the DO.  With each flight, I imagine myself in the Delta roles that we will be living.

At the gate a couple days ago, I was amused as passengers lined up to ask about their chances for an upgrade, ignoring the GIDS next to them.  I saw the anguish from families trying to get re-booked on another flight.  And yes, I witnessed the gate lice inching closer as boarding became imminent.

But mostly I observed the gate agent.  Through my eyes, the pre-boarding process is often chaos but through theirs, this is just another flight.  They are generally courteous, knowing that in a few minutes this flight will be gone only to be replaced by another.  I wonder if I will have their patience when it is my turn to serve.

Now in the air on the way home, the aircraft suffers decompression and we sink to below 10,000 feet.  Too far out to return, our best option is to make it to the destination.

I imagine the pilot contacting ATC, informing them we are no longer able to continue at 36,000 feet and need to have the airways cleared.  Then the pilot makes an announcement to the passengers, a wonderfully simple explanation that keeps everyone from panic.

GoGo Inflight was immediately suspended as was all beverage/food service but the FA’s responded professionally.  A brief announcement, then they buckled up as well for the remainder of the flight.  I imagined dealing with this in RWT and how easy it seemed for the FA’s to make this quick adjustment.

And I wondered how I would respond in the SIM in a similar situation.  How much would the sudden drop in compression and rapid descent change control of the aircraft?  How would I keep everyone from panic as we slipped in altitude?

As passengers, we take all of this for granted.  Indeed, we are ever so quick to complain when the slightest thing goes awry.  It is very different on the other side of the fence and I am looking forward to not only seeing their point of view but having even a little chance to live it.  I hope in their eyes, I am a better passenger for it.

As I sit out here on the deck in back of my home watching and listening to the birds, I think about how perfect is the weather as the sun shines through the leaves of the trees, which are still green but are getting ready to change. There is a slight breeze, the humidity is low, and all is peaceful and calm.

Other than when a tropical storm approaches, October is one of the most predictable months in the Atlanta area in terms of weather. For as long as I have been living here, the weather is usually as it is right now, which is as close to perfection as possible.

The first Delta Air Lines FlyerTalk event occurred in June of 2009. The weather was hot, humid and sticky, which was certainly not conducive to venues that occurred where there was no temperature control, such as the Delta Heritage Museum. Still, everyone had a great time.

Wisely, the event for 2010 is scheduled on October, ready to begin in fewer than three weeks. All indications suggest that this year will easily surpass last year in many aspects. Hopefully weather will be one of those aspects.

Now if only this weather which I am currently enjoying will last for at least another three weeks and a day…

Got dragged to a Mall and noticed it has a Burlington Coat Factory and was able to find a silvery tie for only $9 to wear while I am playing dress up to be a (pretend) Delta Gate Agent! They had nicer ties but since I don’t normally wear silvery/metallic clothing, didn’t want to spend too much on this one!

Whether this is your 1st FT DO or your 51st, most of us either consciously or subconsciously go through a mental checklist of the 6 W’s when deciding to attend.

Here’s my criteria for deciding to attend a DO:

1. WHEN: When a DO is being held is probably the key determining factor for most folks. Whether it be jobs, vacation, family issues or something else vying for our time, most FT’ers lead very busy lives and the rigid dates of a DO many times conflicts with what else is going on in our lives.

2. WHERE: In the true FT spirit, where a DO is being held is very important to many FT’ers. It usually must be someplace interesting (that’s why there aren’t an abundance of DO’s in Peoria, IL ) and, for many FT’ers, the farther away and more exotic, the more appealing.

3. WHAT: As in “What are we doing at the DO?”, is probably of least importance to me but I realize I may be in the minority here. While the scheduled activities for this DO are nothing short of amazing and I’m looking forward to each and every one, the What doesn’t generally rank high on my list of why I attend a DO.

4. WHO: Now we’re getting into the real meat and potatoes of why I decide to attend a DO. It’s all about meeting and greeting old friends and putting names and faces to FT handles I have yet to meet.

For those attending their first DO, you’ll be amazed at how much your FT posting experience will be enhanced after you physically meet many of the folks who have only been a faceless handle on FT up until now.

DO’s are very much about the social aspects be they shared meals, a drink in the Lounge, a spontaneous breakout session in the hotel lobby or a casual conversation in the bus while riding to dinner. These are all chances to get to know your fellow FT’ers much better and to cuss and discuss miles and points strategies.

5. WHY: This is the easiest one.

Just because.

Technically there’s a sixth W which is actually an H:

6. HOW: By airplane. This is FlyerTalk after all.

However the ATL locals may be excused from this requirement.

See you all in 19 days!!