The domestic carriers are pretty bad, for the most part. I have been pleasantly surprised by the customer service of Southwest and Delta of late. SW has always been good with customer service but they're getting even better and Delta(NW) was always horrible. Now, I find them being far more congenial. My suggestion to anyone dealing with airline employees... you catch more flies with honey. It's a thankless job and the vast majority of people they deal with are complaining about circumstances outside of their direct control. One thing that sucks is that all of the airlines are now charging more money for exit row seating. I used to be able to show up early and request an exit row seat and get it nearly every time. Now they want $50 or something like that. -Airlines, like banks and almost all other service industries, have fully embraced fee-based revenue streams. Soon, they'll charge for the ability to use the bathroom :)
I'm a bit shocked to hear about Delta, because as you say, Delta has (in my experience) always been horrible. I mean, it wasn't Continental, but still. It seems ridiculous that airlines will charge people who volunteer to be responsible for the emergency exits, but then again, most people just want to sit there for the extra leg room. If they start charging to use the bathroom, I will feel compelled to answer the call of nature as publicly as possible. I'm curious though, as to why airlines had to resort to the current model when there are so many flights. I almost wish there were some kind of nationwide public air service, but I'm sure that I would complain about that too.
Yeah, not surprisingly I have it. I don't ever use it other than to get my free bags. It's $100 a year but it more than pays for itself.