Why is Delta offering inverted passengers $30,000 each?

You probably heard about the Delta Air Lines plane that crashed in Toronto, landing upside-down on the tarmac. Amazingly, due to the swift actions of the crew, all 76 passengers survived. (Since this was in Canada, I immediately worried that the long-suffering guitar-carrying Canadian musician Dave Carroll must have been on that plane, but apparently since this wasn’t a United flight, he wasn’t anywhere near it.)

Now Delta is offering each passenger $30,000 (US, not Canadian!) with “no strings attached.” If we are to believe Delta, these payments do not affect passengers’ rights to sue and recover additional damages from the airline.

Are you suspicious?

As we’ve all learned over and over, there is no such thing as a free lunch. So it’s not easy to trust an offer like this.

Are the folks at Delta telling the truth when they say it won’t affect your rights? Surely passengers will have to sign something to get the money. Even so, I think it’s unlikely that Delta is preparing to rip people off. The PR impact from offering a “no strings attached” payment that later turned out to restrict passengers’ rights would be extremely negative for Delta.

So assume, for the sake of argument, that this is what it appears to be: $30,000 from the airline just to recognize that people suffered and in some cases, were injured.

Is this just a case of Delta being nice? No public corporation ever does things just to be nice.

It seems to me that:

1. Delta knows it’s going to have to pay. There’s no chance it will get away at the end of all the lawsuits with no payment at all. Why not pay $30,000 of that now, when people may need the money?
2. It creates positive press for Delta at a time when airlines and flying aren’t very popular.
3. People do notice positive gestures. Physicians who apologize for medical errors are less likely to be sued for malpractice. This seems like a cheap way for Delta to demonstrate a human side in the wake of a terrible accident.

Let’s see more of this

It’s a very mean time to be alive. Companies and customers are continually at each other’s throats.

When a company screws up, it’s first move should be to offer some compensation with no strings attached, as Delta apparently just did. That’s a lot more likely to maintain the company’s reputation than stonewalling and getting lawyers involved.

And as consumers, maybe we need to back down a little on the Karen culture that’s arisen. No, I don’t mean being forgiving when an airplane lands upside down. But on any given day many of us are willing to take umbrage at the slightest offense. Maybe we can recognize that in many cases, both the workers and the company are trying to do the best they can.

Can we all just get along?

There, don’t you feel a little better after reading that?

Just don’t mess around with me, okay?