The author has an axe to grind in that article. He wanted to prove to frequent flyers (and leisure ones too) that airline mergers actually promote 'true' competition and that with that competition, airfares will remain competitive.

Did he succeed in his mission? No. He went off on tangents about so-called 'ditch dwellers' which basically slammed airlines like Continental which were not his favored 3: American, Delta, and United.

As someone else mentioned, Continental has the only New York hub. But the hub in EWR attracts mostly NJ flyers. Many NYC, LI, Westchester, and CT flyers still flock to JFK, LGA, Islip, and Westchester Cty airports because those airports are closer to them. So Continental does what it can to compete for those passengers thereby eliminating any resemblance to the author's so-called 'ditch dweller' model.

The article was sheer drivel IMHO.