I've been saying this for a while - I think this operational meltdown is just icing on the cake to demonstrate Delta's fall post-COVID.

Delta's operational reliability has gone to crap. I used to tell relatives and friends "if you want to get there, fly Delta, they will move heaven and earth to make it happen." I had so many stories of rescue flights Delta flew empty, creative MX solutions (cascading part swaps between inbound planes until a replacement could be flown in), crew intercepts to avoid timeout cancellations (e.g. landing at JFK from a TATL to continue onwards to ATL with fresh crew). You could just feel the energy - and corporate financial support - to do whatever it took to safely operate a plane and get passengers moving.

Now? Their cancellation rates are equal to and some months *worse* than American (who used to be the worst of the US4 pre-COVID and it wasn't even close).

Delta's biggest selling point is turning into it's weakness. They still claim they're the most on-time airline, but it's easy to be on time when you're willing to cancel flights to catch up on your schedule.

It is very disappointing.