Originally Posted by
jammin
Delta are partnered with KLM and Air France. In both cases, I've found them to be a nightmare on the ground (customer service centres), but excellent in the air (the cabin crew and aircraft / facilities are excellent).
DL in economy is only slighly worse than European airlines in the air, although you will find no free food or alcohol on your LAX-JFK leg; they charge a fee for everything. (There will be a free meal on the transatlantic leg.) DL ground handling, especially at JFK, is appalling. The JFK staff is hateful and the facilities haven't been appreciably improved in 40 years -- they're the old Pan Am facilities from the '70s and totally overwhelmed by human traffic.