since you are in a non-hub city, it's easy to say that there is a lot of competition. but for those of us in a hub, our options are much more limited. yes there is competition, but it's not "apples to apples" so to speak. yes those of us in hub cities are used to nonstops and our "competition" is a connection.

i've used competition to change my local phone service, electric and natural gas providers, and moved from cable to satellite. and in each case, i get better service, at a lower price. and i don't have to complete any extra steps to use the competitors product.

when it comes to airline competiton, i will need to pay the same (or slightly higher) price, and spend more time travelling due to the connection on the "competitor".

but the competition will never come from the majors, it takes using the startups to keep some type of "fare competition" going.