Originally Posted by
Phoenixtinct
I don't see it necessarily as fleet optimization as some have claimed. They may be adding international routes out of those cities to destinations AirTran already flies to and since Southwest can't handle international bookings yet, they have no choice but to use AirTran instead.
Out of curiosity I checked the new cities thinking some of it might have been repositioning opportunities mid-way for International flights.
But it's all 717s and apparently all into/out of ATL. Some of them offer 1-stop no plane change onto a final destination ala WN.
ORF-ATL seems to get better frequency with more total seats per day.