All the discussion about Medallions leaving makes me wonder about first time Medallions. In the current environment it seems unlikely that more than a handful of new fliers with a choice would opt to persue DL's Medallion program by actually flying DL the necessary miles. In fact captive CVG customers are really the only ones with no choice today.

Marketing efforts value new young customers because or their many years of possible future loyalty. Just look at the tremendous premium for advertising on TV shows with the desired young demographic.

The DL regime seems to have completely forgotten about attracting new loyal customers. Instead they're focused on draining the last dime from captive customers and courting "price is all that matters" vacation travelers. In the long term that can only shrink the DL system and its profits even more.

[This message has been edited by gilpin (edited 08-01-2003).]