I generally try to fly Delta because they have the most options from Charleston, but I am beginning to rethink that preference. I believe that they have done so much cost cutting and are running so close on flight timing and capacity that customer service is lacking. The other week I spent the night in Cincinnati because they didn't offer/suggest to redirect me through Atlanta. That change would have saved them and me extra time and money. This week, I spent 45 minutes sitting on a plane waiting for a gate in Atlanta. The flight was on-time to Atlanta until the 45 minute wait. I had 35 minutes to the next flight. We eventually arrived at gate B8. My departure left from gate B10. You would generally think - no sweat, piece of cake. 25 minutes is plenty of time. But, I had checked bags because I took my golf clubs with me on this trip (all work and no play ...). I told Gerard traveling with me that our bags would not make it after I saw the baggage handler stuff my bag deep into one of those carts. The flight to Charleston was scheduled from B10 and never changed. No issue occurred in knowing where to take the bag, but the handlers are very disorganized with collecting up the bags and moving them around. In this case, we made it home on schedule. Our bags took until 5 PM the next day. Luckily, I was home and didn't need anything from my bag.
Delta will have another chance in a couple of weeks. Let's hope that they can do better next time. AirTran is now in Charleston. My friend's first attempt to use them to fly to Vegas for a weekend left him stranded at the Atlanta airport on a Friday night. What option will get you where you need to go if you fly? I am not sure anymore.
