I almost always flew NWA when growing up, living on the west coast and much of my extended family living in Minneapolis. The first time I flew Delta was actually the year I gained status with them, although interestingly enough I flew NWA more that year than Delta.

I would say I am loyal to Delta, but am most likely not that profitable to them. I have 65,000+ EQMs with DL this year, and will easily hit 90,000 this year spending less than 3000 dollars. I'm exclusively a leisure flyer and have been to Europe a few times on sub-4-500 dollar fares and have done some transcons on sub-200 dollar fares. In fact one of the most expensive tickets I have purchased all year was in the 400 dollar range on a trip to Florida.

Would they have been better off without my money? Not sure, but I will have easily earned enough miles this year for $3000 to get a Biz class international ticket, which makes me think I've been getting a good deal.