Disclaimer - I am neutral in this fight against delta. I realize that I am getting screwed in my mileage accrual. But, that is nothing compared to the cost-cutting happening at work which prevent me from travelling the airline i chose, the class etc.

Now, to comment on Canarsie's suggestion - I wonder what that airline would look like if the Flyer Community started one!!! If my guess it right, it would be no better than the one struggling to survive right now.

The following may sound tangential and unrelated but I draw a lot of parallels between "lean thinking" and running an airline business.

I flew Southwest recently and understand how it makes money when others dont. As a frequent flier, would you love to fly Southwest? One of the reasons WN is efficient is because it is pushing all the inherent inefficiencies to you - the passenger. Till recently, I had a 2nd or top tier status in almost all the airlines I frequented. And, I missed those privileges on WN. I realized that even if I flew WN everyday, I wouldnt enjoy similar privileges.

A community that is used to such privileges cannot run an airline to cater to such needs and STILL remain bouyant. All of our complaints are that the cuts are taking Delta towards a WN model and worse.

On Redcoats - again - I find the role of this person ridiculous. Similar to the person at the checkout in Sam's Club or Best Buy. Whenever you need an override, the page for a "redcoat" who comes and turns a key and Bingo!!!

If Delta and others empower the ticket agents to do the same thing, will there be a need for a redcoat? I have had Delta and other airlines (esp. United) do wonderful things for me occassionally and I never spoke to a redcoat. Redcoat is inefficient - empowering every Delta employee to do the right thing is the correct approach. Hopefully, Delta embraces the latter as they discard the former.



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gt0138d - a certified George P Burdell clone...