And it is not the nation's responsibility to prop up a "city" which would not exist but for stupendously cheap energy (for flights, for cars, for all those air conditioners and neon lights), now that energy has become much more expensive. If you want to live in the middle of a forbidding desert, you should pay the price.

Closer to topic, WN is not invincible. They cannot just add back whatever lift others are taking out: their hedges only cover 70% of their current operation (so any flights added will have to pay full cost); they've really throttled back on growth plans by cutting 2009 deliveries of new planes in half. Gary Kelly even raised the possibility of reducing capacity in their 1Q earnings call. Plus, they have much more lucrative options on the table, as the majors take the axe to their schedules out of DEN, DFW, and the like.