Ben Ryder Howe for New York magazine:
Is it true, I ask, that Delta sends a Porsche Cayenne to pick up 360° members and whisk them across the runway to meet a tight connection while the rest of the plane waits to deboard?
“Yes”
...
Is it true, I continue, that before every Delta flight the airline sends him a handwritten welcome card?
“Yes”
...
SkyMiles members are so devoted they barely flinched when Delta did something two years ago other airlines had long wished to but couldn’t: It tweaked the formula of its loyalty program to reward travelers for how much they spent instead of how many miles they traveled.
...
Last year, Delta reaped 55 percent of the airline industry’s profits despite having only 20 percent of market share.
(Similarly, I heard speculation this week that the Disney theme park business is somewhat insulated from economic trouble because they've trained their visitors to pay for so many upcharges.)