That forced the department that controls ticket pricing to work closely with managers of the SkyMiles program, airline executives say, such as changing how many seats are offered at Delta's lowest "Saver" mileage level.
The Conservatives regard the existing pattern of seats as skewed against them, and changing that bias would be an important boost to their hopes at the next election - but after the defeat of Lords reform at the hands of Tory backbenchers, Nick Clegg and his MPs will now vote against, in revenge.