I'll trade you my own anecdotal experience: Delta is by far the most professional and comfortable airline I've flown with.
The difference in quality when comparing Delta to other airlines is stark enough to me that I will book with them, even if the flight is slightly more expensive or less convenient.
To add some data to this discussion, in 2015 FiveThirtyEight found that Delta flights typically took 4 minutes less compared to other airlines, whereas Southwest flights typically took 1 minute more. This takes delays and cancellations into account.
I'm British, a KLM/Air France frequent flyer, and visit the US a lot (so I end up on a lot of Delta code-shares -- flights booked via KLM/AF but operated by Delta).
Delta are the best of the "big three" US carriers in terms of customer service, and considerably better than American or United. On their intercontinental services they <em>try</em> to measure up to their non-US carrier alliance partners. Nevertheless, they're in third place relative to KLM or Air France as far as the passenger experience goes.
Relevant bit: I was on an AF trans-Atlantic flight a couple of years ago when a passenger a couple of rows behind me became unwell, and the passenger at the other side of my center aisle turned out to be a doctor on her way to a conference. Rubbernecking discreetly, I observed the cabin crew prioritizing the sick passenger's wellbeing and fetching the doctor the emergency kit and all the support she needed. Anecdata is not data and all that, but what I saw was what you'd hope to see in such a situation, not the fiasco described in the OP.
Almost all airlines pale in comparison to Asian budget carriers. I've flown (from best service to worst): Scoot, ANA, and United recently (all on 787-9s).
One of the Scoot flights had some sort of medical emergency. Who knows what happened, but from what I could tell the guy lived. The closest we got to a medical emergency on the United flights was the food.
I fly Delta all the time (including internationally). I hear this anecdote that the US airlines are so much worse, so I have to ask. How are foreign airlines that much better?
My delta flights are almost always on time and are usually a little early. The only big delays I've experienced are because of weather, which all airlines experience. The international meals are fine, as in, I wouldnt pay any more money to get a better meal.
As another anecdote, I went from seldom flights to fairly regular, and the only US airline that has not made me feel like garbage is Delta. I don't particularly care about arriving "on time" except in extreme circumstances. I care about being comfortable and treated well. And while Delta like every other airline does its share of shoving people into uncomfortable seats for long periods of time with little sustenance, they have by far made that more tolerable than any other US airline I've tried. To the point I almost always book on their website rather than any other option.
Tons of stuff. Food on the plane, facilities in the lounges, free newspapers and magazines, choice of entertainment, friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, choice of drinks, quality of the seats, space in between the seats, quality of pillows (business class), flexibility in terms of carry-on luggage, clear information on website, useful website for reservations and what not, reasonable price, and so on, and so on.
Like I said, delta food is fine on international flights (maybe I'm easy to please). Whenever I use an airline lounge, I just envision it's a pretty lame way to make up for the fact that you aren't flying direct.
Quality of the seats for delta is good for comfort+, which is in the same price range as regular economy for 'nice airlines'.
Choice of entertainment has been the in-flight system loaded with a bunch of new and popular movies for free, which is good enough for me.
Price is always in competition for the cheapest. There is a reason the airline is so large...
Not sure what you mean about flexibility of carry-on...
Kinda cool for business class folks. But if your flying business class on almost any international flight you can press a button at any time to get whatever drink mixed up for you.
They've treated me with respect. They've changed flights for me to have a quicker flight. For the most part.. they've been a heck of a lot better than Delta. I liked NWA, not Delta.
My experience is that US domestic flights are terrible, but US international flights are much better. Not as good as non-US carriers, but pretty good overall.
Would you pay less money to get a better meal? Because for example I've found that Emirates is cheaper and has better service and food than Delta, or really any of the major US airlines.
All airlines suck, because they don't bother trying to avoid turning their problems into your problems good and hard.
I've generally had better experiences with Southwest than other domestic airlines, and that includes spending the night in an airport because Southwest canceled my flight due to "snow" when nary a flake was seen at the destination.
Delta, I don't even know why they bother publishing a schedule. But I'm sure our relative experiences are completely dependent on specific airports and time of day.
(I have flown Singapore once and the actual flight service was fantastic. But I'm not going to drop my guard over one uneventful data point, and even they haven't pushed back against the molesters)
I don't have enough experiences. I should have qualified my lead-in statement as "domestic airlines".
After taking the Singapore flight, I did joke about flying across the US via Asia just for the better service. But (thankfully) I still have no idea how they handle problems.
I want to believe that there are still businesses that believe in customer service and doing the right thing, and not just for customers who have paid an out-of-touch price. But part of me thinks it's just a matter of time until "market efficiency" gets to them as well.
I'm not sure where the market efficiency will lead us in this case. I personally am happy to pay ~20% more to fly with a non-US carrier. However, they are making that really hard. First off availability is an issue. How many different fights leave from SFO to Tokyo Haneda (I don't like Narita) on a Friday morning? Then you have these alliances where you book one airline and it gets swapped out for a different carrier. I've in the past booked a particular flight because it was operated by Air Canada and they switched it to United(?). We were flying via Canada to avoid this and still it happened. The market is not as perfect as buying soda off a shelf. I believe that if it was ahs foreign carriers were showed domestically US carriers might be in big trouble. But maybe I underestimate how much price matters to most people.
I have flown Delta several times in international flights. Business class. Their service was always piss poor compared to ANA, Lufthansa or even Air France. United was certainly better than Delta while still inferior to the others I mentioned. Delta ranks as the very last airline I would choose.
With Air France, the breakpoint is making Gold Status in Flying Blue (their frequent flyer scheme). Irregular traveller or Silver or below? If there's a problem with your journey, you own it. Gold and above? If you encounter a hiccup, they own it, and if you show the folks in the business lounge your card they'll go out of their way to fix things for you.
(I was once flying economy on a Delta seat paid for by someone else, and the Delta flight was late enough coming in that I was going to miss my onward connection. But I had Gold Status to fall back on: AF picked up the ball, bumped me a class, and re-routed me on one of their own flights so that I got to my destination, a bit later than planned but the same day, rather than being dumped in Detroit overnight.)
The difference in quality when comparing Delta to other airlines is stark enough to me that I will book with them, even if the flight is slightly more expensive or less convenient.