Actually,
Management and shareholders want the highest RASM at the lowest CASM.
The frequent flyers on here aren't saying what they are saying because of their animus towards the airline rather their desire for the lowest ticket price possible with the highest level of service.
Finding the middle ground where all the parties are content is what is so difficult.
Yeah, reasonable people with different interests can have different opinions. That's reasonable (what's unreasonable is when someone, ahem, comes here to say he wishes the terrorists had finished off US because they suck).
But what the gov't doesn't realize is that the net result of their ruling is that EVERYBODY loses. There will be no new entrants. There will be no new competition. There will be no new flights. The legacy carriers won't get stronger.
Maybe the gov't will revisit this and work out a deal where a handful of slots can be sold. But I think the most probable result is that nothing happens, until the next administration. That might also apply to other merger/sale activity in the industry.