Banana drama: Why Delta Airlines lounge members have begun a fruit-based protest. Photo / Reddit r/Delta
Banana drama: Why Delta Airlines lounge members have begun a fruit-based protest. Photo / Reddit r/Delta
A piece of forbidden fruit has become an unexpected source of passenger outrage at Delta Airlines lounges: the banana.
Free food is part of the hospitality offered by airline lounges. While the buffet is complimentary, there are many unwritten rules for lounge patrons. A big one is passengers are notsupposed to take food ‘to go’.
Many make a point of not offering bottled beverages to discourage passengers pocketing a couple for the road.
“All you can eat” and “help yourself” come with caveats to stop catering costs upsetting the airline beancounters. There have been outrageous examples of passengers bringing their own takeaway containers to the lounge buffet.
However, a recent altercation over a banana in Minneapolis Airport has led to pushback from passengers.
The Delta loyalty member says they were scolded for walking out of the lounge with a piece of fruit, according to a post on the Delta Airlines Reddit forum. A slip up that they say left a black mark on their record after they were reported by staff.
“Someone tell me this is all a nightmare and my $700 a year isn’t a complete waste. I just wanted a banana,” they said.
Bananas are the centre of a fruit-based protest at Delta Airlines lounges. Photo / Reddit r/Delta
The traveller texted their boyfriend distraught at the altercation. It seemed outrageous that Sky Club members - some of whom were paying $1495 a year - were made to feel like a criminal over a bit of fruit.
The protests have come after Delta made changes to its lounge policies last month, making it more difficult for guests to visit and more expensive for members.
