Oh boy, do I wish I hadn't falled into the is DFW the same or different than PHL, PIT, DEN, IAD or any of the recent additions to the WN network.

One big difference, in no place where WN has added service has it taken service away from other markets - as WN adds more planes and has less cushion due to hedging fuel, it needs to find new profitable markets, including attacking weaker hubs/airlines. Lets not kid ourselves, WN is a business not a charity and is looking to go where it can make a buck.

This isn't about whether WN can be profitable at DFW. Maybe it can, maybe it can't - only they know what operating there would mean. I'd bet though that they would be less profitable from there, which would mean fewer flights under the vaunted Southwest effect, which would mean potentially higher prices to compensate for higher operating costs, which would dampen the Southwest effect, which in my opinion is not good for the Quality of Life of North Texans. Darn it - we are talking about what is better for the region - not WN's business strategy.

I'll say it again - I believe that lower fares to major markets is better for the region in the long run than a few, marginally profitable non-stop destinations on the AA network from DFW (and they would have to be marginally profitable, or they wouldn't be at risk from competition from another entrant). Ask yourself a different question, how many of you believe that if the WA were repealed, that the AA network would shrink below the size it was right before DL first downsized its hub and replaced main line routes with RJs. AA's hub didn't look all that weak when as I remember it.

How does the sky fall in a post-WA world?
32 gates at max at DAL (who is going to pay for construction for additional gates, even if the demand for slots was there) flying jets quieter than the corporate jets that fly into DAL now (oops, except for those pesky AA MD-80s).
Traffic gets worse on Mockingbird. Ok bad for some, but also bad for business at DAL if the situation persists.
AA reduces some service from DFW. How much of that isn't replaced by other service into the Metroplex? Ah yes... WN won't fly to LIM... it must have been all of the Anheuser Busch and Sprint folks travelling there that made that flight profitable for AA.
WN reduces some in state service for out of state service. If the flights weren't as profitable and they really competed with car rides, doesn't that mean we're back to the car and WN shouldn't have been flying them in the first place?

We've been at this now for 3197 posts... where does this make things worse?