Delta passenger says delays drained his money, left him stuck at CLT

CHARLOTTE — Delta Airlines is finally starting to come out of the chaos, but it was five days too late for one local father who ended up stuck in Charlotte.

What started as a day trip to Montana and back turned into a case of being stranded.

Aaron Benjamin told Channel 9′s Tina Terry that he was supposed to fly back home on Saturday, but Delta’s flight delays left him stuck and drained his bank account. Then, when he finally landed in Charlotte Wednesday, he faced unexpected fees when he got to the daily parking deck.

Despite the flight delays being out of his control, Benjamin says the airport refused to waive those fees for the extra days that he wasn’t planning on.

“[They said,] ‘You’re going to have to pay for your parking, you’ll have to submit your claim to Delta and have them pay for it,’” Benjamin told Terry. “I’ll be honest, it didn’t sit well with me after all of the things I’ve been through already.”

Benjamin said several of his flights were canceled or delayed since Saturday, and it was difficult to reach Delta’s customer service using QR codes and 1-800 numbers.

“I waited on the phone for six-and-a-half hours, nobody ever picked up,” Benjamin said.

Even though Delta’s CEO said the company is committed to taking care of impacted customers with hotels and meals, Benjamin says he went without a bed for four nights, and he got very little money for food.

“Every time your flight gets canceled, you get $12. That was really painful,” Benjamin said.

On Wednesday, he was finally able to get his car, and he said he was grateful to be home. He said he wants airlines and airports to do better.

“Hopefully when this is over, at least the lesson’s learned,” he said.

Terry reached out to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and asked if it could waive fees for future travelers impacted by the outage.

“We are sorry to hear about this customer’s experience. At CLT Airport, our parking terms and conditions do not allow for exceptions,” the airport said in a statement. “We recommend the customer reach out to the airline to inquire about financial compensation that may be available due to the unexpected flight delays.”

Earlier Wednesday, Delta apologized to customers and said they expect the issues to be resolved by Thursday.

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