I wonder if they’re really making that calculation properly. 12 x 600 euro is enough money, and a 15-20 minute delay on a flight that wasn’t going anywhere else that night would seem to be worth that. (Maybe it is—just sounds wrong to me).

Of course, it’s possible that Delta has (reasonably) decided not to really make that calculation on a case by case basis at all. But that’s not the same as them deciding that the trade off in this case was worth it.