Like many of you, I mostly fly domestically on CO and occasionally NW, so I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to making comparisons between airlines and thus biased when it comes to setting expectations. This week I took my first DL flight in 10 years, and the entire time all I could think about was how much DL was getting it all wrong and it reminded me of why I've been so loyal to CO.

I flew into CVG on an DL express/Comair flight, and the terminal is a complete zoo. Unlike EWR, where your express jet pulls into the terminal and you're within walking distance to your connecting flight, in CVG you have to wait in line to get on a shuttle bus to take you to the other terminal, after which you have to get on a monorail to take you to the baggage claim terminal. The shuttle bus passes behind several DL aircraft, and I was surprised to see how dilapidated and filthy their jumbo jets were. There were several variants of the DL livery, so it wasn't difficult to distinguish the dinosaurs from the newer aircraft, and on many the paint was peeling and looked unkempt.

I didn't seem to mind that I didn't have priority baggage handling because I was on an express flight with <30 people, but the *average* wait for bags was 45 minutes. It took me 15 minutes just to get to the baggage claim, and I had to wait another 45 to get my bag. Unbelievable! And DL reps were conspicuously absent from the baggage claim area, unable to offer any explanation to the swelling crowds hovering over the carousel as to why no bags were coming. Priority baggage handling, by the way, is only offered on DL international flights over six hours--and only for platinum medallion members. I can understand limiting perks like SWU certs to platinums only, but priority baggage handling?!

Before heading off to the airport for the return flight, I wanted to check to make sure the flight was on schedule since the weather was bad. I tried calling the DL main phone number to use their automated flight status feature, but all I got was a busy signal. Called again, busy signal. After a few minutes I finally got through. At the airport, the waiting areas are crowded, chaotic, and filthy. And when it came time to board, as much as I laugh at the whole blue carpet gimmick, this is how they announced their boarding for the flight: "ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Delta flight XXXX, at this time we'd like to begin boarding all medallion members and passengers in zones 1 and 2." (translation: everyone) So much for "priority boarding"!

As someone who loves to complain and vent about CO, all it took was this DL experience to put things into perspective and make me realize that for all the good and the bad, CO really does keep its planes and terminals clean, goes out of its way to treat its elites very well, and has set up EWR to make connecting to other flights and navigating around the terminal easy and efficient.

For the first time in a long while, I called customer care to give them my praise. I prefaced my call with "don't worry, I'm not calling to complain, I'm calling because I have a compliment." You could hear her sigh with relief when I mentioned that.

Was my experience with DL anomalous?