but 99% of ATL including the AJC, 11alive, WSB, etc etc all thought Southwest coming was a great idea, and fares would be lower. Plus candy and sprinkles would rain from the sky as soon as Southwest came. I remember they even had some dumb Welcome to Atlanta party at the airport. NOW comes what I knew would happen DELTA DOES NOT CONSIDER SOUTHWEST A COMPETITOR LIKE THEY DID AIRTRAN. As such fares will cost as much as if you lived at a small to medium sized airport they only difference is you do not have to connect. I was all for Southwest coming to Atlanta as a third option behind Delta and Airtran. Airtran had business seats, select your seat in advance, etc etc. Southwest is supposedly a budget carrier (though they charge near the same as Delta if not more) ATL-MIA is now north of $250 r/t all the time when it used to be $100-120. Competition of Southwest as a 3rd airline could have only helped, the buy out though only hurt Atlanta.