All in all, this is a surprising turn of events and points to Delta being very worried. I know we always have these threads where people say every flight have been on is packed so Ed can do what he likes but this came from something in the data too. It could have been what Amex was already seeing in collapsing spend / downgrades / cancellations or maybe concern in forward bookings from normally trapped customers.

I still hope a lot of people keep their eyes open. Delta let the mask slip there for a second and its only virtue was some level of truth: there are not enough upgrades for the Diamonds let alone anyone else . So WFBF is the most rational strategy and do not divert a single cent to them (or any of the airlines for that matter) expecting some future outsized benefit.