A college pole vaulter from Central Washington University was robbed of a championship win after Delta Air Lines lost her poles.
Kati Davis, 23, was going for her third All-American title at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Pueblo, Colorado. She booked a flight with Delta going from Seattle to Colorado Spring on May 22. She paid Detla a $200 oversize baggage fee at Sea-Tac Airport to have her 14-foot poles transported with her.
Davis awaited the arrival of her equipment, but it was nowhere to do found. They happened to be taking a trip of their own through Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Denver. Davis spent several calls calling the air line to inquire about her missing equipment.
"The most frustrating part, I think, for me, was I just kept getting the run-around," she told KEPR TV. "I was talking, I was calling automated phone numbers that were hanging up on me or talking to people who didn't know, or they would tell me one thing and something would be different."
The poles were finally located in the airport at Denver on Friday, the morning of the competition. Davis' coach drove two hours to the airport to retrieve them, but got stuck in Memorial Day weekend traffic on the return trip.
The poles never reached Davis in time for the championship. Instead, she used borrowed poles that were too short and went on without her coach. She was unable to clear the initial height and lost the title.
' I think it's unacceptable in this day and age when you're having to pay so much for baggage ... how they treated me during this whole week and what they do with baggage and how they can't keep track of things," Davis told MSNBC.
Delta provided Davis with two $100 vouchers for her trouble and they ar ein the process of refunding her $200 baggage fee,
Despite this incident, Delta Air Lines has favorable luggage handling statistics, the latest government statistics show. They only lose two bags per 1,000 passengers.
Virgin Atlantic has the lowest rate for lost bags, with only one complaint per 1,000 passengers. American Eagle has the highest lost luggage rate of six complaints per 1,000 customer.
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