Delta's New Customer Service?

It looks like the threat of a hostile bid from US Air has scared some customer service into Delta. Last week I flew Delta from Los Angeles, to Charlotte, to Altanta, then back home. Thursday night, trying to get to Altanta, I got stuck in the Charlotte airport for about eight hours (at least I wasn't sitting on a plane for hours like those poor JetBlue passengers). My first flight at 4:30 was canceled due to mechanical problems, then weather delays in Atlanta kept inching back our takeoff time.

What made the whole thing bearable was the Delta employees customer service.

• At the gate, agents gave us regular, candid updates on where our inbound plane was and what the expected delay should be. No horsing around, no game playing, and with a sympathetic smile. It's hard to get mad at a gate agent who appears genuinely sympathetic and is patient enough to listen to everyone's complaints.
• On the plane, the pilot came on the speaker and apologized sincerely for the delays, and acknowledged that we'd all been sitting in the airport for hours.
• Before we landed, flight attendents walked through the aisles with customer feedback surveys. They actually encouraged us to fill them out. One attendant said, "I know you've been delayed and that you've had a rough night. We want to know how we handled it. Please give us some feedback."

I hope that this type of customer service commitment doesn't wear off after the sting of an acquisition threat fades!