AC

At a time when air travel has become an increasingly do-it-yourself affair, with passengers making their own reservations, checking themselves in and even toting their own food, Delta dal is bringing back a touch of the past: its once ubiquitous Red Coats. The scarlet-jacketed agents returned to New York's JFK airport last summer and made their debut this month at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson. By summer's end, 600 agents will be walking the concourses and gate areas of 14 airports, including LAX, Orlando and Washington's Reagan National. The return of the elite agents is perhaps the most visible sign of an airline ramping up personal customer service rather than reducing it at a time when self check-in is the norm and passengers often have to pay extra to have an actual person book their flights. American Airlines opened a new customer-service center at Boston's Logan Airport two years ago, and Delta stopped connecting callers to representatives in India during the first quarter of...