BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Petition for Rulemaking and 

Third Party Complaint of 

Donald L. Pevsner, Esq. 

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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, 2012 

 
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. 

Delta hereby responds to Donald Pevsner’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 breach of contract” for Delta to change the 

schedule in any way after his ticket purchase. 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 efforts to carry passengers and their 

baggage according to Delta’s published schedules and the schedule 

reflected on the passenger’s ticket, but published schedules, flight times, 

aircraft type, seat assignments, 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 carriers or aircraft, delay or cancel 

flights, change seat assignments, and alter 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, or 
Answer of Delta 

Page 2 

revising the routings by which Delta carries the passenger from the 

ticketed origin to destination. 

(emphasis added.) 

This provision is essential to the operation of the airline because schedule 

adjustments are a normal and necessary reality in the airline industry. 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 congestion and air traffic 

control problems. Carriers typically publish their schedules almost a year in 

advance of the date of travel, and it would not be feasible to operate an airline if 

carriers could not make minor adjustments to their schedules after publication 

without breaching their contract with each passenger that had already bought a 

ticket on every affected flight. 

That is not to say that Delta claims 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), Delta 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 240(b) allowing refunds in the event of “delays” 

exceeding 90 minutes does not apply to “schedule 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 request for a waiver of the change fee was denied 

because the schedule change was less than 90 minutes, not because it resulted in an earlier 

rather than later departure.
Answer of Delta 

Page 3 

minor (24 minutes), none of those conditions applied. Therefore, no exception to 

the general rule applied, and if he wanted 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 whatever changes he wanted without payment 

of any change fees, Delta offers that convenience. However, it costs more. 

Pevsner chose not to pay for this convenience. Instead, he chose to buy a 

cheaper ticket that was nonrefundable, and subject to our contract of carriage 

terms, including the provision that the schedules are subject to minor changes. 

Despite that, Delta offered to waive half the $150 change fee simply as a 

matter of customer goodwill. Pevsner rejected this compromise and instead 

contacted Delta’s Government Affairs office to demand a waiver, threatening to 

file a petition if he did not get special treatment. When that threat did not work, 

he filed this frivolous petition. 

Pevsner’s real complaint is evident from the last paragraph of his filing. 

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

has not existed for more than 30 years, and the inflation-adjusted price of air 

travel was much higher when it did. Our 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