BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Petition for Rulemaking and Third Party Complaint of Donald L. Pevsner, Esq. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT-OST-2012-0109

ANSWER OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Alexander Van der Bellen Managing Director – Government Affairs & Associate General Counsel DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 1212 New York Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 842-4184 sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

July 16, 2012BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C.

Petition for Rulemaking and Third Party Complaint of Donald L. Pevsner, Esq. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket DOT-OST-2012-0109

ANSWER OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC.



### Delta hereby responds to Donald Pevs ner’s petition for rulemaking and
third party complaint. There is no basis for any rulemaking; Pevsner’s complaint

is without merit and should be dismissed.
Pevsner complains because he purchased a nonrefundable ticket for
travel on a Delta flight which was affected by a minor schedule change -- 24
minutes earlier than the originally scheduled departure. Pevsner erroneously
asserts that it was a “prima facie breac h of contract” for Delta to change the
schedule in any way after his ticket purchas e. This is incorrect and ignores the
relevant provision in Delta’s domestic contract of carriage, Rule 240(a):
A. Flight Schedules are Not Guaranteed

Delta will exercise reasonable effo rts to carry passengers and their baggage according to Delta’s pub lished schedules and the schedule reflected on the passenger’s ticket, but published schedules, flight times, aircraft type, seat assignm ents, and similar details reflected in the ticket or Delta’s published schedules are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract. Delta may substitute alternate carri ers or aircraft, delay or cancel flights, change seat assignments, and al ter or omit stopping places shown on the ticket at any time. Schedules are subject to change without notice. Except as stated in this rule, Delta will have no liability for making connections, failing to operate any flight according to schedule, changing the schedule for any flight, changing seat assignments or aircraft types, orAnswer of Delta Page 2



### revising the routings by which Delt a carries the passenger from the ticketed origin to destination.
(emphasis added.)
This provision is essential to the operation of the ai rline because schedule
adjustments are a normal and necessary realit y in the airline i ndustry. The minor
retiming of Pevsner’s flight occurred as part of Delta’s normal hub arrival
metering process at the Minneapolis hub by which Delta staggers its arrivals and
departures at the hub to minimize the risk of gate congest ion and air traffic
control problems. Carriers typically publ ish their schedules almost a year in

advance of the date of travel, and it woul d not be feasible to operate an airline if
carriers could not make minor adjustment s to their schedules after publication
without breaching their cont ract with each passenger t hat had already bought a
ticket on every affected flight.
That is not to say that Delta clai ms an unfettered right to make any
unilateral schedule change it chooses without reasonable accommodation to
affected customers. To the contrary, as stated in the section of Rule 240 (which
Pevsner does quote), Delt a grants full refunds upon request to customers who

hold nonrefundable tickets for travel on affected flights if the schedule change
results in a cancellation of their flight or a change of 90 minutes or more in the
departure time, or if the change would cause misconnections for the passenger. 1



### However, because the schedule change affecting Pevsner’s itinerary was so

1 Pevsner asserts that this exception in Rule 2 40(b) allowing refunds in the event of “delays” exceeding 90 minutes does not apply to “sched ule changes.” It is true that the language as drafted refers to delays rather than early departures, but as we explained to him, our policy is in fact to honor customer requests for refunds if a schedule adjustment results in a change of more than 90 minutes in either direction. Pevsner’s re quest for a waiver of the change fee was denied because the schedule change was less than 90 mi nutes, not because it resulted in an earlier rather than later departure.Answer of Delta Page 3



### minor (24 minutes), none of those condition s applied. Therefore, no exception to
the general rule applied, and if he w anted to change the itinerary on his
nonrefundable ticket, he owed the applicable change fee.

If Pevsner had wanted the convenience of a fully refundable ticket that

would have allowed him to make what ever changes he wanted without payment
of any change fees, Delta offers that c onvenience. However, it costs more.
Pevsner chose not to pay for this c onvenience. Instead, he chose to buy a
cheaper ticket that was nonrefundable, and s ubject to our contract of carriage
terms, including the provision that the schedules are subject to minor changes.
Despite that, Delta offered to waiv e half the $150 change fee simply as a
matter of customer goodwill. Pevsner rejected this compromise and instead

contacted Delta’s Government Affairs of fice to demand a waiver, threatening to
file a petition if he did not get special tr eatment. When that th reat did not work,
he filed this frivolous petition.
Pevsner’s real complaint is evident fr om the last paragr aph of his filing.

He believes the CAB should stil l dictate all carrier rates and charges. That world

has not existed for more than 30 years, and the inflat ion-adjusted price of air
travel was much higher when it did. Ou r contract of carriage provisions are not
unfair or deceptive. Our handling of his complaint has been fair and reasonable,
despite his own rude and abusive behavior. This petition should be denied.Answer of Delta Page 4

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________________ Alexander Van der Bellen Managing Director, Government Affairs & Associate General Counsel DELTA AIR LINES, INC.Answer of Delta Page 5

Delta’s Response to Specific Allegations Pursuant to Rule 302.408(b)

1. Delta denies that its administrative change fee for nonrefundable tickets is unreasonable and denies that the Department has authority to regulate the price of air travel. (Complaint ¶¶ 1-4)
2. Delta admits that the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 abolished the CAB and ended government regulation of air fares. Delta denies that any other Department action is appropriate in this matter. (Complaint ¶ 5)
3. As an affirmative defense, Delta asserts that with respect to the alleged incident, Delta engaged in no unfair or deceptive practices, nor operated in contravention of any statute or regulation of the Department of Transportation.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
A copy of the foregoing Answer has been served this 16th day of July, 2012, upon the following persons via email:

sam.podberesky@dot.gov DonPevsner@aol.com