Well, the Big Six are desperately trying to cut their costs 30% or so. The trick is, what are their revenues? If their revenues are 30% lower, then there is no direct incentive to cut fares, as it might result in revenues dropping to 40% lower, for example, and then the airlines are in the same boat - the Titanic.

But this does not mean they should not try. Even if they take the route AA is - only match fares on routes where an LCC is cleaning your clock - they can see how it works.

If AA fills each JFK-LGB with $600 F fares and maybe 25-30% of $300 Y fares, then it will give AA incentive to extend it to, say, JFK-FLL. AA might also see how JFK-LAX works with, say, a one-way $1200 F fare and a $600 Y fare (half of what they charge now). If revenues increase, great. If not, then back to $2400 for F and $1200 for Y and folks who want to pay less can fly to LGB.