While it is true that Southwest would have to compete with United, Frontier and others if it came to Denver, that never has stopped Southwest before.

Southwest competes very well with United in the LAS-LAX market. Southwest sets the price and United pretty much has to match it. It competes with Frontier right now on the RNO-ABQ run (with one stop in Denver for Frontier or one stop in Vegas/Phoenix for Southwest). It competes with Delta on the LAS-SLC and LAS-Portland runs.

I am sure there are plenty of other examples where Southwest and another airline fly the same route, either direct or with the same number of stops.

For a few years, Southwest competed with America West and Reno Air on the LAS-RNO run. Southwest sold tickets for $39 each way and drove the other 2 out of the market. And, guess what -- Southwest didn't raise their price when the last one left the market. Right now, you can get LAS-RNO for $44 each way, based on round trip advanced nonrefundable purchase.

I did not know that there was "bad blood" between Southwest and the city of Denver. I can see Southwest's desire to keep Stapleton open for their use. I think Denver made a lot of airlines mad by forcing them out to DIA. I think that is another example of the mis-management of DIA and the strings that United pulled to try to control the market. Remember that CO went into bankruptcy just as DIA was opening. At DIA, you see the Continental name on the de-icing equipment west of terminal A. CO also has a hanger northwest of terminal C, although I think that Frontier is using that now. However, the CO name is still on the building. When CO pulled out of DIA, it appears that UA took advantage of the situation and pulled all the strings they could to keep Southwest and other low cost carriers out of the market, thus allowing UA to charge more for their flights.

You can't fault UA for doing that -- every business tries to get as much for its product as it can and keep its competitors out of their markets. But DIA, a public entity should not allow one airline have a virtual monopoly.

And now, DIA pays the price for getting too cozy with UA. You live by the monopoly, you die by the monopoly. If you grant someone a monopoly and you bet the entire airport on that monopoly, don't cry when the monopoly goes under and DIA's revenues are in jeopardy. If DIA would have hedged its bets, UA would not be a big a source of revenue, and its loss would not have the same effect.

While I can see how flying to COS would be helpful to some, my destination is north of Denver, not south -- so COS is not an option for me. I'd love to see Southwest fly into Cheyenne, but I can't see that airport as being a big enough market for Southwest.

There was a rumor that the City of Cheyenne was courting Southwest, but, at least so far, hasn't done what it takes to get Southwest to fly there.

The city of Denver needs to swallow its pride and recognize that all major cities are served by Southwest. I think Denver took pride in being a "hub" city. What pride is there in being the "hub" city of an airline in bankruptcy?

The city needs to serve its citizens, not its own sense of pride. The citizens of Denver would be better served by more competition at DIA, thus offering lower prices and letting the public fly at the real cost of flying, not some artificially inflated price provided by granting monopolies.