Giving up a cheap-to-use fortress hub in your primary competitor's backyard (because, really, UA is out of the picture right now) seems like a great plan.

As I've said before, if the experienced airline executives of FT were in charge, AA would shutter everything except JFK, LAX and one gate at SFO, and operate nothing but paid F between them. Passengers who want to go somewhere else, or -- gasp, fetch me the smelling salts! -- who would need to connect to get where they're going just aren't worth as much as chasing the big bags of money on the most contested routes in the country.