From what I understand the changes will result in people who spend money with Delta buying expensive tickets will be rewarded more than those who spend money buying cheap tickets.

People like my buddy who don't spend much money with Delta but for example, put all their Diesel fuel purchases (say to the tune of $400K a year) on their AMEX card won't get the high elite status levels anymore just because they use their card a whole bunch.

I think Delta (understandably) wants to honor those people who are contributing the most to Delta's bottom line.