Posted by David McCann Responses (0)

When I worked at Business Travel News in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I covered the car rental industry, and it was kind of fun, because the vendors were in a perpetual war of words with one another. In short, they didn’t like one another at all and had no qualms with letting it be known.

So it’s with just a hint of glee that I read about something similar developing in the airline industry. The scene: Atlanta. The adversaries: Delta and AirTran.

So it’s with just a hint of glee that I read about something similar developing in the airline industry. The scene: Atlanta. The adversaries: Delta and AirTran.

From a Delta press release: “The latest government statistics show Delta has delivered better on-time performance than its largest competitor [in Atlanta] for the past 13 consecutive months.”

From a subsequent AirTran press release: “AirTran would like to congratulate Delta on this accomplishment, but why stop there? Let’s look at all the consumer metrics reported by the DOT, including canceled flights, lost bags, oversales and complaints. Based on the most recent DOT report, Delta was 21% more likely to cancel your flight, 64% more likely to lose your bag, an astounding 1,440% more likely to bump you against your will and, not surprisingly, Delta customers complain 93% more about their flights and services than AirTran customers.”

I guess you’d have to give the round -- and the match -- to AirTran. And that was the case even before AirTran’s press release concluded with AirTran vice president Kevin Healy saying, “I would have thought Delta would have more important things to focus on with their bankruptcy, record losses and pending pilots’ strike than this, but I appreciate them giving us the opportunity to set the record straight.”

You know what this reminds me of? The negative messages that permeate most political campaigns these days. The only difference is that most people see negative politics as unsavory. When it’s commercial enterprises that are putting the gloves on, I can’t, for some reason, resist getting charged up.