WSJ article blasts DL for stranding MSY customers An article in Friday=92s edition of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) looked at the airlines that departed from MSY the day before Hurricane Katrina hit and asked =93Where was Delta?=94 On Saturday, Delta Air Lines (DL) canceled all of its flights scheduled the Sunday before Katrina made landfall; however, other airlines, including CO, kept flying as long as the weather would permit. DL said its decision to cancel its Sunday schedule was based on the safety of its customers. =93As it turns out,=94 the article said, =93conditions = were OK to operate well into Sunday.=20 The Sunday before Katrina slammed into the central Gulf Coast, American Airlines operated a full schedule until 1 p.m. CO=92s last flight = departed MSY at 4:30 p.m.; CO flew 10 of its 12 scheduled flights that day. Southwest=92s latest flight was set to depart at 3 p.m. but was delayed until 6 p.m. =93The contrast between what American, Continental and Southwest did Sunday and what Delta did is startling,=94 the article said. =93Airlines have to be safe, but they also have to be mindful of their obligation as public transportation. In this case, they were the lifeboat for many customers, and some of the lifeboats didn=92t show up.=94