A Delta Airlines customer has sparked a debate for posting about the Delta Sky Club amenities while dissing Southwest.
In the video posted by TikTok user @merg0at last week, she films herself sitting in an airport’s Delta Sky Club as two airport lounge employees serve a cart full of complimentary frozen espressos.
“People choose to fly Southworst and Delta is over here serving frozen espressos in the sky lounge,” she wrote over the video, with the caption: “Nothing better than Delta.”
Southwest Airlines has recently become the subject of major controversy after the Dallas carrier cancelled more than 15,700 flights since 22 December due to a winter storm, causing havoc with airline schedules. While other major airlines had been able to restore regular scheduling, Southwest was the only airline unable to recover from storm-related delays.
Although the viral TikTok appeared to be commenting on the Southwest Airlines fiasco, many people felt the TikToker was bragging as some people can’t afford to stay in the Delta Sky Club.
According to the Delta website, the Delta Sky Club is a “retreat where you can work or relax before your flight” which offers “complimentary cocktails, fresh and healthy food options, free high-speed Wi-Fi and more.”
An individual membership for the Delta Sky Club costs either $695 or 69,500 Delta miles, though the club is also accessible for free by American Express Delta SkyMiles cardholders.
“Not everyone has access to the sky lounge,” one person commented.
Another user said: “Some of us aren’t rich.”
“This is giving off Marie Antoinette vibes,” one TikToker commented.
“This screams out of touch,” said someone else, while another user wrote: “On today’s episode of I’m rich and you’re poor.”
In the comments section, @merg0at clarified that she used a credit card to access the Delta Sky Club and that it saves her money for travel.
“I am shaming Southwest for canceling over 3,000 flights and losing thousands of peoples luggage last week,” she added. “You all missed the point of this clearly.”
It is estimated that more than a million Southwest passengers missed flights home during the holidays, while many of them are still missing luggage. Just last week, Southwest Airlines cancelled another 2,357 flights before noon on 29 December.
The federal government is now investigating what happened at Southwest that left passengers stranded over the holidays. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a letter to Southwest CEO Robert Jordan late Thursday called the week of disruptions “unacceptable.”
“While weather can disrupt flight schedules, the thousands of cancellations by Southwest in recent days have not been because of the weather,” Buttigieg wrote. “Other airlines that experienced weather-related cancellations and delays due to the winter storm recovered relatively quickly, unlike Southwest.”
