You’ve definitely got it figured out and love that you’re “hitting the slopes” with the SKI Club!

With regard to the rollback (whether temporary or not) of DL’s SkyRuble cuts, I am interested in the give and take of the commenters. I find it generally useful and insightful.

With regard to the profitibility of DL vs. UA (or any other airline), please see the last line that Clark Gable said to Vivian Leigh in “Gone With The Wind”.

With regard to Frequent Flyer status, I’m too old and comfortable in my own skin at close to 75 years old (won’t say how close) to chase that chimera beyond where I am (lifetime Marriott Titanium gives UA silver, Amex Plat gives Hilton and IHG something, and DL 1 MM gives, well…DL Silver/Gold).

I buy travel based on price and schedule, and use my points of all flavors when I can. It’s my money, not my employer’s or my client’s. (Actually, I’m a charter member of the SKI Club — Spending Kid’s Inheritance). Retired and widowed (twice) means I have time to travel.

Lounge access is generally what I want for the trips I take, in addition to price and schedule. I have a lifetime pass to the United Club (purchased when I graduated law school 50 years ago for the magnificent sum of $250) for UA, my Amex Plat for DL and Centurion (a nice club at DFW if I’m on AA), and my Chase Sapphire for Priority Pass in lots of places.

Good fortune to all of you.

And UA specifically was pressed during its earnings call by a Wall Street analyst on its claims that they are replacing the capacity at EWR from having to reduce flights by using larger aircraft. UA execs finally admitted that the analyst could not accurately use the revenue projections for EWR before the summer and UA’s operational meltdown any longer. In other words, UA is NOT recapturing all of the revenue from the flights it had to cut.
UA is always “everything is rosy” until they are pressed on details when they finally admit otherwise.

UA is not changing its elite requirements because they need to fill seats on airplanes and are losing revenue in key markets.

Employee compensation is behind DL even before UA coughs up the money for a flight attendant contract.

“we caught on that United, in its earnings release, ADJUSTED OUT profit sharing for its employees in order to produce an ADJUSTED margin that was higher than Delta’s.”

Taking profit sharing to produce an inflated adjusted margin is NOT true and not what UA nor DL did. This is different than taking profit sharing out of operating expense. You don’t know the difference, I pointed out the difference but of course 10 different people can tell you 20 different ways in 30 different languages in 40 different dances and you still won’t get it.

You’ll never get it, and that’s what makes you Tim Dunn we all know and definitely not love. The punching bag for the comment section.

Delta even explains that it adjust out profit sharing from expenses and provides justification.

Delta: We adjust OPERATING EXPENSE and CASM for certain items described above, as well as the following items and reasons described below:

Profit sharing. We adjust for profit sharing because this adjustment allows investors to better understand and analyze our recurring cost performance and provides a more meaningful comparison of our CORE OPERATING COSTS to the airline industry.

It’s best that you probably step away from the keyboard, but you probably don’t have anywhere else to go. Feel free to keep digging yourself a hole and while the rest of us continue to burry you.

And you STILL CAN’T and WON’T deal w/ the reality that UA paid $100 million less in profit sharing w/ DL.

For someone that is so defensive, you can’t grasp the true bottom line.

but it’s all about people, right?