First.... this is a blog post, NOT a news article.

Second.... there's nothing new here or in this article, besides your grossly dramatic/borderline clickbait thread title.

DL's FCM strategy has been widely known and publicized for a while now.

For reference, the ONLY part of the rather wordy article that reference upgrades is the following, in the final paragraphs:

"The biggest SkyMiles devaluation is yet to come as Delta strives to effectively eliminate complimentary first class upgrades, the most prized perk of frequent flyers. Delta isn't positioning it that way, of course, because Delta specializes in obfuscating SkyMiles changes. But we know the perk is disappearing because Delta is publicly crowing about its ability to sell first class seats rather than give them to elite SkyMiles customers, the same elites who've been promised complimentary upgrades as a benefit for being loyal to Delta.

In 2013, according to Delta's numbers, only 45 percent of flyers sitting in a first class seat paid for it or paid to upgrade into it. In 2015, however, Delta estimates that number grew to 57 percent. By 2018, Delta management hopes that at least 70 percent of its first class inventory will be sold outright or acquired by a paid upgrade. That leaves literally hundreds of thousands of elite, high-value Delta flyers competing for crumbs — or, even better for Delta, deciding to pay up to first to ensure they get the perk that Delta promises them for free. Glen Hauenstein, Delta's chief revenue officer and de facto boss of SkyMiles, proudly boasts that the paid upgrade level has soared to 54 percent from 13 percent during the last three years."