New Orleans woman checks Delta flight tickets to Mexico. The prices had her calling out the airline on TikTok: ‘More than $1000?’

A New Orleans woman named Destinee posted a TikTok video after she checked Delta Air Lines ticket prices for a trip to Mexico. She said the fare left her shocked. The video, posted on her account @thatgirlnamedes _, has gained 202,100 views, 12,400 likes, and more than 1,300 comments.

In the clip, Destinee speaks straight to the camera from an indoor room. She has long, bright red hair and wears a patterned top with a light-colored headscarf. On-screen text over her reads, “Delta Airlines must be READY TO GO OUT OF BUSINESS”. Destinee said, “And Delta Airlines must be ready to go out of business because why the f–k is a flight to Mexico more than $1,000?”

She repeated the figure, asking, “$1,000?” while moving her hands. She then compared Delta with another carrier and added, “Spirit will f— never.”

Delta executives tie higher fares to jet fuel costs and fewer seats

The Independent reported that Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the company would “meaningfully reduce” its plans to add more seats because jet fuel prices had jumped since the war in Iran began in February. Delta said its fuel bill would be $2 billion higher than the previous quarter, according to CNBC.

Bastian told Fox Business in June that ticket prices would fall once the airline could fly more often. He said, “Prices will come down when we can fly more, when there’s more supply, it’s a supply and demand. Right now we’re kind of logjammed.” He pointed to a crowded air traffic control system as one reason the airline could not add more flights.

He later said rising fuel costs left Delta with “no choice” but to raise prices. In July, he said fares would stay high even after fuel prices eased because other operating costs remained elevated. On a call with reporters, he said the airline aimed to recover about 40 to 50 percent of the extra fuel expense in the second quarter by charging more.

Delta also raised checked-bag fees that week to $45 for the first bag, $55 for the second, and $200 for the third, matching moves by JetBlue and United. Bastian said the company’s wealthier customers were still booking trips and “are prioritizing experiences and they’re wanting to travel.”

Federal data showed U.S. airfare in June was 26.5 percent higher than a year earlier, CNBC reported. Airline leaders told analysts that demand stayed strong even after the fare increases. United Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella said the carrier saw “minimal to no negative impact on demand from higher price points.”

Spirit Airlines shut down in early May. A lawyer for the carrier told a New York bankruptcy court that sharply higher jet fuel prices left “no remaining way out” of bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The lawyer said no credible buyer had come forward since the previous August.

Reuters described Spirit as the first U.S. airline casualty tied to the Iran conflict that pushed oil prices higher. For Spirit, the complaints don’t stop at ticket prices, as a woman was allegedly forced by Delta to check a camera at the gate, only to find it destroyed.

Viewers posted a mix of replies under Destinee’s video. One commenter wrote, “Delta doesn’t want people that would be on spirit on Delta and I don’t either.” Another wrote, “lol flying was never supposed to be cheap, flying is a luxury. Delta has always kept up with that…” A third commenter posted, “Delta, thank you for keeping our cabin calm!”

Someone else wrote, “You right Spirit would never because they are out of business.” One more commenter said, “They are insane with not giving points now.” The debate over Delta’s pricing and policies continues, as seen when a woman said she paid $800 for a basic economy ticket but was barred from the Sky Club despite having an Amex Platinum card.