To express disappointment with the turn of events, and not to be disputatious, AF is also not the world's worst intl airline, but many (most?) Delta elites think that DL is the best US airline, and one of the best intl airlines. Teamed with SR, DL had a best of breed alliance. Without SR, but with AF, the alliance has no benefit to many DL elites, since DL elites will often either fly only DL or put miles in *A of 1W. In my case, DL's loss (no DL codeshares on AF sold to me) will be *A's gain. SQ and LH intl are best of breed.