Those really are irrelevant considerations. There are 9+ seats available on the 3 remaining JFK-SFO flights today, and on 4 of today's JFK-LAX flights. both routes have tons of options to rebook passengers on not only nonstop, but one stop options. If you have to cancel a flight, better to do it on one where you can accommodate passengers on other flights. Probably similar to the calculus that led AA to cancel one JFK-SFO and 2 JFK-LAX flights yesterday. (Of course, the FT network planners know better)