My first flight was on a USAir DC-9. I have found memories of the airline - especially of getting hamburgers in my 'kid-meals' in coach. We had airline loyalty as a family based solely on that!

Every legacy airline has fallen victim to the same fate. Deregulation appeared great at first, but the business model clearly does not work as is.

Its a shame for all of the legacies, because Southwest, JetBlue, and Virgin do not provide the universal service needed for the US. But, such is today. Hopefully US, by being relatively small, is nimble enough to adopt the best practices going forward someday.