Delayed, canceled, and grounded flights can be a real pain in the neck. But that’s nothing compared with the ordeal suffered by passengers on a Delta Air Lines (DAL) -) flight on Friday, Sept. 8. According to one passenger’s social media post, her flight was diverted to a Portuguese island where they were treated abysmally.
Nana Asante-Smith was en route from Ghana to New York with “40 of our dearest friends and family[…] for the trip of a lifetime.” But the plane took an unexpected sharp turn, and the crew informed passengers that they’d be making an unexpected landing due to a mechanical issue causing low oxygen levels in the cabin.
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When they landed, passengers were told they would be fed and another plane would arrive from Boston to pick them up. Soon after, “the crew members were shuttled to a hotel, not to be seen again. From that point, we never heard from or saw a Delta representative in any official capacity.”
Asante-Smith says that she and her fellow passengers were taken to an enclosed part of the airport and held for 12 hours. During this time, the post alleges that passengers were only provided water from bathroom faucets and had to wait “some time” before a cafe was opened and they were allowed to purchase food if they had a credit card.
“After begging and pleading, we received paper bags with [juice boxes, crackers, and] ham sandwiches,” Smith writes of the experience. “Many could not eat [them] due to [pork-related] dietary restrictions,” which are common among Ghanaian/West African and Muslim customs.
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Overall, Asante-Smith says there was an overwhelming lack of updates or information from Delta and airport staff. A spokesperson later told Insider that the company was handling a large number of requests due to poor weather conditions across the U.S. East Coast.
Passengers who attempted to connect with Delta representatives were met with messages she says seemed generic. “The elderly, pregnant women, [and] children became restless, frustrated, and confused. A child vomited. There were not enough seats for [everyone] so many sat or laid on the hard floor.”
At several points, Asante-Smith says that the airport staff told the passengers that they “shouldn’t start a revolution” and that they should “be grateful for a second chance at life.” The Lajes Airport didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment in response to Asante-Smith's claims.
This female rep told us we should be grateful that they allowed us to be here and our plane didn’t crash in the sea pic.twitter.com/AwOR2jPp2I
— Kiaundra Eggleston (Smith) (@KiaundraSmith) September 9, 2023
“We were abandoned by Delta and treated like encroaching roaches by airport representatives on Terceira Islands,” Asante-Smith writes.
After 12 hours, a plane arrived to transport them to New York’s JFK International Airport. “We were told that our luggage would not leave Terceira Island with us,” she says.
Without luggage but stateside once again, Asante-Smith told Insider that the airline was overwhelmed. But in her original post, she says that their treatment rings of racial bias.
“Understand me clearly and unequivocally when I say that if this situation had befallen over 200+ white passengers flying from a European country, their reality would have been very different from ours.”
Delta has since responded to Insider, saying that customers’ bags were sent with their original aircraft to JFK and they were issued refunds. Asante-Smith says that as of Monday, Sept. 11, her bags had still not arrived. She was, however, given a $400 voucher. She was also promised a full ticket refund by email but says she has yet to receive that money.
Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond to TheStreet's request for comment.
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