I've flown Delta for five decades. My first flight was an Air Canada Viscount even before that. It's time to review some history to understand the challenges and frustrations of the latest SkyMiles decimations. The "death by a thousand cuts" is nearly accomplished. It didn't happen overnight.

Two decades ago Delta's new CEO Leo Mullen planted the seeds when he started to devalue SkyMiles and move it toward defining loyalty based on spend. This community rose up and our Save SkyMiles group may not have won the war but we did win some battles. There weren't terribly many what some people today brand as "apologists" then.

Of course, the decimation of SkyMiles as we knew it was merely put on hold and accomplished with the proverbial "thousand cuts" that were sold to us as "enhancements." Often it was one step forward, two steps back. And a good question now is where is the "Save SkyMiles" uprising now? Apart from the "if we don't hang together we'll surely hang separately" problem and the fact that probably most people here weren't around this two decades ago, there is a much different landscape today.

Back then many of us didn't just protest we voted with our feet. I was one of the people welcomed by Northwest Airlines which truly did value our loyalty and its passengers. Northwest was allowed to be bought out by Delta without a blink by antitrust regulators. Delta promised it wouldn't raise fares or cut service. Two promises broken.

There were other options then. US Air, America West, Continental, United and American among them plus niche carriers like "best care in the air" Midwest Express which valiantly fought off attempts by Northwest to bury it.

Midwest Express is gone. Southwest swallowed AirTran. Continental and United merged (and Continental was a well run airline). American gobbled up US Air after it took over America West and, earlier, TWA. There are other carriers that fell off the radar, Alaska is still around. (I always wondered where an Alaska-US Air merger would have made sense.)

Not only were there other carriers but the major ones were competitive. Unlike the "me too" of the "Big Three" today passengers who were upset by Leo Mullen and Delta had viable options and many of us exercised them. Competition provided more choices, more flights and lower fares.

Today, Southwest is often pricier than Delta. Spirit and Frontier are, well, much like root canals without anesthesia with a pricing scheme that requires careful scrutiny to ensure that you don't get screwed. Jet Blue is a regional carrier that has devalued its product and Alaska has growth potential but seems to be slipping in terms of its once thoughtful customer service.

The assassination of SkyMiles was decades in the making. Unlike competition of 20 years ago, the "Big Three" are pretty much in lock-step. The "death by a thousand cuts" that devalued frequent flyers happened "because they can" given the absence of any meaningful airline competition. Antitrust laws were supposed to protect against monopolies. The federal government utterly failed.

There are those who will berate those of us who gripe about this. They don't get it. It's not just erosion of "perks" but some downright shady business practices that have gone unchecked. Higher fares and fewer choices were in the works pre-pandemic and less competition coupled with government's blind eye to antitrust violations affect everyone.

One particularly disturbing and telling aspect of the latest decimations is the sketchy relationship between Delta and American Express and business practices that are likewise "curious."

The "Sky Club" debacle is a good illustration. Access became more difficult and expensive purportedly as a means of addressing period overcrowding at SOME clubs. Some, not all. Instead of addressing the local situations Delta took an axe to all. These issues didn't exist before 2020. When Delta absorbed Northwest the number of clubs were reduced and membership fees steadily increased. The real culprit may have exposed itself less than a year ago.

Abruptly Delta announced even more cuts to club access and another sharp increase in annual dues. This was coupled with aggressive marketing of the Reserve Card (and Amex Platinum) by Delta and American Express as a means of unlimited club access at a far more advantageous price. Many of us took the bait, gave up our club memberships and bought the Reserve card (or Amex Platinum).

Less than a year later comes the switch. Those pricey cards will no longer get you the same club access. Reserve will be ten visits per year (six for Amex platinum) which is an extremely significant devaluation. If you hit the club before your initial flight and during the layover that's four visits for one round-trip. (I've argued that "visits" should mean one per itinerary vs.stop.) Two or three round trips and your club access is gone yet those pricey cards remain pricey.

This didn't just happen overnight. Obviously someone discussed and contemplated these changes for quite some time. You don't have to be a meteorologist to know when it's raining and likewise it would be absurd to think that some folks at Delta and Amex woke up two weeks ago and decided to do all of this. A conscious collusion was made to divert people to those expensive cards as a means of club access. Pretty classic bait and switch.

Some folks will argue that "because we can" is ensconced in the terms and conditions and they're right. But right can also be wrong. Delta and Amex induced customers with offers and decisions and then essentially reneged on them to the detriment of those customers.

So, what can be done? What should be done?

This is where "because we can" becomes important. Unlike 20 years ago there aren't competitors hungry for our business. Except for Alaska it's pretty much choosing the brand of razor blade to slit your throat. Alaska's Mileage Plan works fine for its limited network but fly on a partner and a mile flown does not always equal a mile earned.

The larger picture, though, is attacking the "because we can" with pushing vigorous antitrust enforcement. The "Big Three" should be broken up and more competition promoted. That may not necessarily save SkyMiles or roll back the devaluations but at least we may see more flight options and lower fares and, maybe, just maybe, a return to competition. Perhaps "Save SkyMiles" has morphed into "Hey, hey, ho, ho. The Big Three's gotta go."