"United could have accommodated Delta during idle hours, but instead decided to double its service in January, “in a market that does not appear to be extraordinarily profitable and in which a meaningful portion of UAL’s current traffic is likely to be moving to the new non-stop, longer-haul Southwest flights,” McAdoo said."

For the bolded part: If he is an airline analyst, shouldn't he know?

Is it a profitable route, or is it not?

How does a route 'not appear to be extraordinarily profitable'? He flew it once and his plane had a bunch of empty seats?

Plus, even if it is not extraordinarily profitable for UA, but it allows UA to hurt a top competitor, how do you quantify this potential benefit?