Just a short side track about phl... wn did make a run at it against us bec at the time us was financially strapped but us responded and forced wn to back off.....
back to our regularly scheduled debates
you are absolutely correct.
WN used the financial weakness of a number of legacy airlines in the first half of the decade of the 2000s to dramatically expand outside of WN's historically core markets.
Because WN had success with US in the past, WN tried again at PHL but US fought back and WN backed off to the point that PHL is a decent station for WN but it isn't the large station they might have had in mind.
As much as anyone wants to believe otherwise, WN does not like to engage in lengthy battles to maintain its presence in key markets.
They are still doing it in DEN a decade after developing that city and WN realizes they don't have the cost advantage which propelled their growth in the 2002-2006/7 time period.
Again, a huge missive about why WN won't get the gates, which nobody seems to disagree with.
At the same time, continued ignorance over the fact that DOJ was pretty specific in how they seek to ensure a competitive balance.
and equally you and others refuse to accept that the DOJ cannot reregulate domestic air transportation by selecting winners and losers in the industry.
The only reason why LCCs get a chance at gaining slots at DCA and LGA is because they have a minimal presence there; the legacy carriers do not.
WN IS the dominant airline at DAL and they would gain an even larger presence and an almost completely monopoly of the airport by being able to acquire more gates.
They aren't going to get any more gates at DAL unless there is absolutely no other carrier. Period.
Regardless of what other carriers might want to do, DL does want to compete from DAL and will be serving DAL post-Wright to a number of cities.
