Remember that Delta/Northwest flight from San Diego to Minneapolis that overshot the airport by, oh, about 150 miles? Well, the story just got weirder. I totally expected them to have been asleep, but check out the latest news on the topic:

Instead, Cole and Cheney told investigators that they both had their laptops out while the first officer, who had more experience with scheduling, instructed the captain on monthly flight crew scheduling. The pilots were out of communication with air traffic controllers and their airline for more than an hour and didn’t realize their mistake until contacted by a flight attendant, the board said.

I’m trying my best to wrap my head around this. Let’s be honest, pilots “cheat,” but at the same time the rules are meant to be broken. Many times they’re talking when the cockpit is supposed to be “sterile,” while other times they no doubt use their laptops during flights. But how can two pilots with a combined total of over 30,000 hours of experience forget to do their jobs for over an hour while they’re fully awake?!?

I want to believe it, but I just can’t. There’s gotta be more to this….

Now that Delta has unveiled a few more details about their new top tier status, let’s summarize what you get for your 125,000 MQM’s or 140 segments per year with Delta:

• 125% mileage bonus (which Platinum members used to get)
• Free SkyClub membership (which Platinum members used to get)
• Priority upgrades over Platinum members
• A dedicated phone line
• Two “choice” benefits

So basically this is Platinum status from a few years ago, before all the double elite qualifying miles promotions and all that other good stuff. The idea as such of a fourth tier is a good one, in my opinion, given the huge combined elite ranks of Delta/Northwest. I would expect that Platinum members will have close to a 100% success rate with domestic upgrades. Other than that, the benefits are by no means fantastic, although they’re not bad either. The one thing I was desperately hoping for were some “real” systemwide upgrades which wouldn’t require a ridiculously expensive coach fare, but they quite purposefully left that out.

I would argue that despite requiring 25,000 more flown miles, Diamond isn’t as good as Executive Platinum at American or 1K at United, thanks largely to the international systemwide upgrades. Diamond is probably better than US Airways Chairman, although that has more to do with the product as such instead of the actual benefits. As of now they have a slight edge to Continental, although I bet we’ll see some adjustments in Continental’s program soon.

I see a lot of people speculating about how the other airlines will react to this. I’m betting they won’t. This is a non-event. American and United know their elite programs are better, so there really isn’t much of a need to throw in a free lounge membership or more redeemable miles. Continental is the only airline where we might see a reaction, but that has a lot more to do with their transition to the Star Alliance than anything else.

The only thing I’m really not sure about is the awesome new “rollover” benefit which Delta has introduced, whereby “extra” elite qualifying miles count towards next year’s status. Will the other airlines match? It wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m not counting on it. If United matched I might just have 1K in the bag till 2013.

At least they consistently delay flights way in advance. Yesterday afternoon at around 2PM my DTW-TPA flight was already showing a 90 minute delay. That’s usually not so bad, but it was the difference between an 11:30PM and a 1AM arrival, so I didn’t get home before 2:30AM.

Some of you might recall that I mentioned this flight was zeroed out for several days now, but last minute it showed they were selling three more seats. So as is usually the case, bumps come when you don’t expect them (or want them), but don’t come when you do. I’ve found that to be the case consistently, unfortunately.

Anyway, I had a fantastic weekend in Ann Arbor filled with more miles and points than I’d care to think about for a very, very long time.

This evening I was booked on a flight from Tampa to Detroit which looked rather full, but not overbooked. I made a post asking whether or not they might need volunteers, and the consensus was no. One reader that frequents the route even said I had a “0 percent chance of bump.”

Well, not only did they need volunteers, they needed lots of them! They were both overbooked and weight restricted (it was a DC9). They were offering a $300 voucher and hotel with a seat on the first flight out tomorrow morning. I wanted to take it, but had to say no. I absolutely have to be in Ann Arbor tomorrow at noon, and just can’t risk not being there. One delay and I’d be screwed. Besides, my brother flew out just to spend time with me, so I couldn’t do it to him (although in fairness I’m now waiting at DTW because his flight was two hours late).

So the moral of the story? Bumps always happen when they’re least convenient, and most importantly, there’s ALWAYS a chance at a bump, no matter how a flight looks a few days out.

Now, here’s to hoping for some love from Northwest on my return, which shows as P2Y0 as of now.

So tomorrow evening I’m flying from Tampa to Detroit, and the flight looks rather full (P4Y5), but probably not full enough to get a bump, at least as of now. That’s kind of a blessing, since I have to be in Ann Arbor on Saturday morning. The return, however, looks a bit more promising. It’s currently sold out in coach and only has a three seats remaining for sale in first class.

Nonetheless, of the three flights I’ve taken on Northwest that were zeroed out at the time of check-in, none needed volunteers. Any predictions from the Northwest flyers?

On one hand I’m excited about the fact that I’m flying Northwest, because they moved to the Delta/United terminal, which means I can use the SkyClub before my flight. On the other hand I’m flying on a DC9 in first class, which I’m pretty sure is an oxymoron. At least there’s food to keep me entertained….