Having spent most of the last 35 yrs on DL, I'll keep them as my airline of choice, for now ... subject to continued reevaluation (I did wander elsewhere for 3 years when I decided that I could not fly an airline run by Leo Mullin).

For me, the issue is, what options to pursue when you have requalified (or can project that you will requalify) at whatever elite level you aspire to, and there are airlines that are more convenient, or even offer better service in certain markets, than your legacy carrier of choice. For me, that option is increasingly becoming WN... especially now that they have their Business Select fare.

For example, PHL to Chicago... which used to be a convenient connection on DL through CVG... back when DL flew real jets. Now it's crop dusters all the way. (No, I will not fly direct on UA or US ... I don't want to encourage either of them to stay in business any longer than necessary.)

Flying a real jet direct to MDW on WN vs risking two choices for disappointment on DL crop dusters is an easy choice. A visit to the DOT website and a look at the statistics for how frequently regional carrier flights are canceled tells me that the risk of disappointing a client or my family due to a disrupted itinerary is just too great.

I'll also be reconsidering how I get to Houston now, since DL is going to an all crop duster schedule from ATL to IAH. They used to do this only during the summer (airline logic, put regional jets on the route between two of the most severely weather impacted southern airports in the summer). Now it appears that it will be year-round.

(The irony is that, after spending a decade trying to push us onto regional jets, the airlines are now whining about how fuel inefficient they are on a passenger-mile basis.)

The point I am heading towards is that the legacy carriers are going to be cutting service to, and even pulling out of, more cities as they use fuel prices as an excuse for capitulating to other legacy carriers who have a stronger presence in a particular city... and as they increasingly adopt the attitude that they can't make a profit on a jet that isn't flying over an ocean.

As the legacy carriers all compete to be the new leader in international travel, and as they continue to abandon any pretext of domestic competition in smaller and/or hub cities, the LCCs like WN are going to step in and fill the void. We are all going to have more opportunities to choose LCCs as the legacy carriers abandon us.

All of the alleged advantages associated with flying a legacy carrier won't amount to much if the carrier no longer serves the cities you go to, or you can't get a seat on the few flights that remain.

So, yes, I am still going to strive for elite status on some legacy carrier, but I may settle for Gold rather than Platinum if it means more reasonable connections, shorter travel times, fewer flights on puddle jumpers and crop dusters, and overall better service on a LCC for some portion of my air travel needs.

And, while I'd walk barefoot over broken glass before I'd willingly check luggage... WN has had my bag waiting for me before I got to the carousel... and this was in PHL, the galactic black hole for luggage. Call that anecdotal evidence.