Branson may work out rather well
When you realize that Branson'w new airport is 45 minutes drive from SGF which is on the North side of Springfield (160.000 people) and Branson (6.000)to the south, Airtran will bring passengers down from Springfield as the fares are about half of those from SGF.
About 20 miles to the south you have Harrison (15.000) with FedEX and other large employers.
Also, Branson will be paying about $ 8.24 for each arriving passenger for a few years.
Airtran will only have 1 daily flight to Branson from ATL and MKE so I think it will survive.