Correct

We have an office in MSP so I fly the EWR to MSP route
quite frequently. The 737 flights in both direction are
great times for my trips. One of the worst things about
the change to regional jets is that they seem to have
much worse on time behavior. It is very common to sit
on the apron at MSP in regional jet in both directions.

I think CO is missing a huge opportunity especially since
Delta is trying to take over the NYC area market.
There is very strong anti-Delta feeling in the Twin Cities.
For example, the change from the local US Bank Visa
to Amex. I do not understand the competing US Bank
card, but is very bad for the Delta brand at MSP. There
is definitely a feeling of betrayal. This is hard to explain,
but there is also still some animosity between northern
Minnesotans and southerners.

It is true CO 737s in coach are only about 1/3 full, but
I think that is because nobody knows about the flights.
For me EWR is the best airport because of the train to
Penn Station without needing to deal with JFK. I do
not understand why CO does not advertise in the Twin
Cities because in New York the Delta ads are all over.

Regardless of the reason, it is hard to be profitable flying a plane with that level of load.

There are actually better and cheaper train connections at JFK; the big difference is dealing with DL's terminal there, which is a dump.

Because CO only offers service to 3 cities; there isn't much to advertise. DL offers service to scores of destinations non-stop from NYC. It makes sense that Delta is pushing their product - they actually have a product to advertise in the market.

All the advertising in the world wouldn't make much difference for CO in the MSP market -- MSP locals, and especially business travelers, are going to overwhelmingly stick with Delta because of the need for convenient, frequent nonstop air service to cities where they want to go.

The only "advertising" they've had around here is CO 2816's recent visit to RST, which certainly isn't helping their image.

CO's only selling point is its mainline service, and they can no longer capitalize on that here.

WN seems to be doing quite well -- 11 flights daily, mostly full or nearly full. However, WN is not actually expanding right now -- just reallocating resources -- so I don't expect much further growth here for a while.

Long term I dont think DL/NW has all that much of an advantage. NW preserved its lead for decades through cut-throat competition, e.g. with ATA they moved into their home base & drove them out. DL/NW can't play that game w/ WN in the picture because it could very well be DL/NW that ends up going under. To the extent that their destinations overlay, other competitors (e.g. AirTran, Frontier, Sun Country) will be shielded by WN. NW's bite has been muzzled.

Also NW is not as popular here as many would imagine. Labor relations, bankruptcies, leveraged buyout & drunk pilots have really given it a black eye as far as the local public is concerned. Elites view it differently because of how well we were treated, but for the public it's really a love-hate relationship, with a lot of the latter and the "Northworst" attitude.

Delta simply isn't a hometown airline.

And now CO pretty much just flies E-145s. Welcome to Rochester.