full of luv

Yes but there is a difference. A huge delay is an annoyance to be sure, and a service letdown, but cancelling and handling the pax a refund when flights are already near max capacity feels like a real let down.

My neighbors were issued a refund by AA due to flight cancellation two weeks out. AA blamed the max when they called but didn't offer them any alternatives and anything else for sale by any airline during that time was 3x the price they originally paid AA 5 months ago.

So in Delta's calculation, it's a bump up in customer service if you delay for 12-16 hrs rather than just outright cancel any flight.