wlau

I fully disagree, as someone we constantly do these connections... Asian airlines are not always good - maybe I am too American but I prefer Delta metal and service, positive experience outweight the many negativeness. Here is a breakdown:

1) Water
DL> full size water given you to right after meal, on top of multiple beverage services. FA then regularly walks through the cabin with dixie cup size water and OJ, filled 80%
KE> random pint size Jeju water left on the seat, not every seat... I asked the FA and she said they don't drop on every seat because someone don't drink water... right?!?! FA also do drink runs, and they are in little shot size cup, filled about 50%

2) Meal
DL> snack with almonds/peanuts + pretzels (all sizeable bag)...3 options to chose from, each with 1) hearty salad; 2) side dish like potato salad or smoked salmon; 4) main entree with huge chunks of protein; 5) cracker and cheese; 6) packaged dessert which you could save for later; and 7) bread and butter..... midflight snack including some hearty snack and ice cream/ice cream bar.... prearrival meal either a full meal if long flight, or a hot pocket of some sort with fruit cup and chocolate.....if it's full, you get 1) a salad or side dish; 2) hearty egg-based dish with meat and potato in various form; 3) fresh fruit , at least 5-6 pieces; 4) yogurt (regular size); 5) pre-sealed cup of OJ, 6) croissant with butter and jam.
KE> no snack or pre-meal drink service, 3 options with most inventory of bibimbap: 1) small portion of finely diced veggies and a teaspoon worth of minced meat; 2) giant rectangular of rice; 3) seaweed soup = water + MSG powder + dehydrated seaweed bits; 4) 2-3 pieces of bite-size fruits... .that's it, no bread, no salad, no cracker, no dessert..... midflight = none, nada, nothing of food nature in the galley bar.... prearrival meal is only a half meal: 1) small oelette or asian noodle with no meat; 2) small yogurt (US kid size); 3) small breadfast bread like croissant...
** With DL pax not able to get seat assignment on KE, you are likely sitting in rear cabin. by the time the meal cart reaches you, only bibimbap is left... total calories is probably around 250-300 for about 6-7 hours until the pre-arrival meal.

3) Seat
DL 32" leg room or 35" if in comfort plus, soft foam padding or memory foam on new A350... each with pretty decent recline
KE 34" cross all economy, definitely a plus, BUT virtually no seat padding as typical with Asians want to sit and sleep on very firm or hard surfaces... 3 hours into the flight, my rearend starts to hurt, 4 to 5 hours into the flight, i can't feel anything... 7 hours and beyond: severe pain sets in, lower back and neck area...

4) IFE
DL older IFE 7" or newer 9", with no other control, everything is touched based. tons and tons and tons of movies (new or old) but old system is not very responsive
KE older IFE 8.4" or newer 11", giant remote control... very limited movies choices about 20+. The large screen and remote control actually eat into your space

5) FA
DL old and cranky, give you a lot of water and alcohol so they won't have the come back again, which is a positive for me since I can sleep almost uninterrupted
KE young and beautiful, runs multiple water services during flight using shot size cups and yells out very loud if you want a drink, in both Korean and English in loop... you can almost be sure not to get more than 30 min or shuteye at a time... They call this good service or "inflight excellence".. I call it "inflight sleep deprivation service"