Basking in an on-time rate that beats rivals, Delta Air Lines promises to pay up if it can't get road warriors to their destinations more reliably than American and United.
Delta is pitching a new programme to its corporate clients that will award travel credits to those accounts if the carrier falls behind its two biggest rivals in on-time arrival and flight completion rates.
The initiative is novel in an industry where airfare discounts and flight selection - not reliability - typically win corporate travel buyers. It's also a move by the airline to capitalise on operational successes to woo customers by convincing them that Delta's punctuality will save them time and money.
"We've been focused on relentless operational success, because any carrier could replicate anything we do, whether it be seats or food or Sky Clubs, but they can't replicate our performance," said Bob Somers, vice-president present of global sales.
For a long time, no one wanted to. In 2010, two years after merging with Northwest Airlines, Delta was 15th in on-time arrivals among 18 US airlines. Delta jumped 10 spots in 2011 and now is in third place - ahead of American Airlines Group, United Continental Holdings and Southwest Airlines and behind only the non-global carriers Hawaiian, a unit of Hawaiian Holdings, and Alaska.