I understand perfectly how the regional airlines operate. (Incidently, Comair is still a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta. Perhaps not for long, and Compass and Mesaba were also owned until recently).
However, they are in fact operating to standards set by Delta and they are flying under Delta branding. It is ridiculous to suggest that a customer has no complaint with Delta if they buy a ticket from Delta.com, for a journey on mainline Delta, via Atlanta and then take a Delta branded regional connection, staffed by people in Delta uniforms, operating to Delta standards and to the terms and conditions of Delta's ticketing rules.
As you didn't like my McDonald's example, let me give you another one. If I send a package via FedEx from Detroit to Glasgow, the package may be handled from London to Glasgow by a non-FedEx aircraft. If the package was lost on this part of the journey, would the customer have no compliant against FedEx. Could FedEx simply say sorry, that portion of the journey was not operated by FedEx?
If Delta put their brand on the side of the plane, customers are entitled to expect that Delta accept responsibility for the service that is provided.
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