I have been flying a lot on Delta lately as I won't connect to stay on AA and am NYC based. I'm not sure how Delta does what it does, but the attitude of employees is noticeably better - I'm reguallry told "thank you" for your business by check-in agents and FAs. On my Delta regional yesterday from LGA to Savannah there was a mechanical problem after boarding - Delta literally sent a SWAT team of mechanics to the plane who were breathless by the time the situation was solved - departed 10 minutes late. On AA this would have taken god knows how long. Delta and AA just have a fundamental difference in what they want their companies to be. Delta bet that they could create a brand that people are willing to pay more to fly - I bet Doug Parker thought Delta was crazy when they set out on this strategy - but it's obviously working. However, as a paid J flyer with my travel patterns AA works very, very well.