This is the real bottom line here. NWA had a pretty solid lock on the consumer bases of its hub markets, and most of those people, no matter how disappointed by the FFP changes, simply will not go to another airline because of the major inconvenience caused.

And honestly, no frequent flyer should be pulling teeth or bending over backwards to fly his or her airline of choice. Anywhere in the world, there's a simple rule -- go with the FFP of the airline you either fly most often or that offers you the most service to/from where you fly most often. If you live in MSP, take advantage of the large hub there and be a DL frequent-flyer -- sure, other airlines, like Continental and United, would love to have your business, but as a general rule, their schedules and service offerings won't be catering primarily to your needs but rather to those of the pax in the hub markets.