Just an update: CO cancelled my Thursday 4pm flight from PHX-EWR sometime on Wednesday, though they didn't call until Thursday morning. They had protected me on the redeye. (Hmmm...why is the redeye still running) No way.

They then offered the 4pm the next day. "What about the earlier flights the next day?"
"They're sold out"
"Then give me a refund"
"No, we'll only give you a voucher"
"Get a supervisor on the line"
"OK, we can 'force' you onto the earlier flight"
"Never mind for now"

Anyway, America West had a flight PHX-EWR about an hour before my original CO flight that hadn't been cancelled. CO wouldn't endorse the ticket over, so my company had to fork over another $400 for the one-way ticket on HP.
Lo and behold, the HP flight arrived more or less on time into EWR. And it was empty in back, so I had a whole row to myself. In-flight service was pathetic -- only peanuts on a 4+ hr flight, and only one bev service that I was aware of. But I got home.

Now I am fighting the battle to get the miles credited for the CO flight so that I can qualify for a fly-3, get Gold status promotion.