Delta is getting flak after a passenger posted a video of her seat and bag getting soaked by a torrent of rain pouring through an open plane door

17.08.2023 - 07:35 / insider.com / Delta

A Delta Airlines passenger filmed the moment her seat and bags were soaked by rain pouring through an open plane door linked to a jet bridge.

TikToker fornik8e, who posted the clip on July 4, said she briefly moved to another spot on the grounded plane, which later flew from Atlanta to Minneapolis, to avoid the deluge.

"When I got up because my legs and shoes were soaking wet, they told me there was nowhere for me to stand, and I had to go sit in a different seat," the passenger claimed.

The footage shows a puddle forming at the entrance of the plane, which the passenger said was eventually mopped up by Delta staff. 

However, the passenger added that she had to clean her seat and the seat next to her by herself, and that the incident was never acknowledged by staff.

The passenger said she understood that bad weather was partly to blame for her experience, but was also frustrated that "no one offered an apology, or any acknowledgment that I was soaked, my stuff was soaked, and left me to figure out how to dry off my seat and the wall."

She further claimed in a comment to her video that flight attendants were "laughing and standing around joking" while she was affected by the rain, and said that one staff member even "yelled" at her to return to her seat. The footage did not capture these allegations.

In a statement to Insider, a Delta spokesperson said the airline has reached out to the passenger.

"We appreciate this being brought to our attention, as it is certainly not the experience we want our customers to have. We have been in touch with the customer to ensure she was heard and have also provided her a gesture of goodwill," the spokesperson said.

The video was followed by comments from people urging the passenger to file complaints with the Department of Transportation, which she said she would do. The department requires airlines to acknowledge consumer complaints within 30 days of receiving them.

"Write to the FAA and demand your money back," one person said.

"Whoa Delta is way too expensive to let this kind of thing happen," another person wrote.

"Damn, Delta, what's up with that?" wrote another TikToker. 

fornik8e did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular working hours.