Delta pulled off a masterful c&@?k block. That is harsh. Why didn’t we think of that?

Because we like to cancel. I can't wait to see Doug & co. stranded somewhere because of our cancelation-obsessed company culture.

KDA? Well, that takes effort. Right now we can't even figure out who we are... Premium, ULCC? Who knows...

We'll always disappoint because management doesn't care about providing a good product. They only care about filling their own pockets on behalf of customers and employees.

Hopefully the marketing department is taking notes

That story basically defines AA as a whole. We cancel, Delta goes the extra mile to complete the mission.

Delta once ran a 777 instead of an RJ to uphold their no cancel goal.

Because passengers and employees are statistics to our upper management, and nothing more. D+whatever and completion stats.

I make sure that my out time is later than D-10.

They'll also delay a flight 16 hours. Not sure either is ideal.

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.

I agree. But when you delay a flight 16 hours almost all of the passengers will be accommodated on other flights anyway. So they are both a pain.

I once rode an almost empty DL flight that had been delayed almost 20 hours. I don’t get the point.