While I agree that had to be very frustrating for you DL seemed to follow the contract of carriage on your ticket. They got you safely to your destination in a reasonable time from the original schedule.

DL (and all airline) provide transportation. They do not guarantee that you will be on time for your meeting, wedding, vacation, cruise, etc. on time.

If that meeting was so important, you should have flown the night before to ensure that you were on time.

It is quite often that airlines don't have enough crew at the end of the month or the first of the month due to scheduling, maximum hours, etc because they are keeping their staffing tight. I am not saying that is right, but that often happens. Also a crew member could have gotten sick in MSY and DL does not have a base their, so a replacement would need to be flown in, again causing a delay.

Again, I know the experience was frustrating, and I am not apologizing for Delta but they did perform under their contract of carriage. It also does not matter when you purchased the ticket or how much you paid, they followed the C of C.

I would be happy with 10,000 miles, and that is probably the most you would get.