[conservative in nyc]

If routes to small cities don't pay, they shouldn't fly there. That's what busses are for.

It's not that routes to smaller cities don't pay; try flying to somewhere in North Dakota from either coast for less than $400. The problem is that not as many people want to fly from small cities to any one point, so you need to fly through a hub or use smaller planes. Southwest claims not have any hubs, and small city flying doesn't fit Southwest's one-size-fits all business model. The 737 is too large to fly there, and Southwest doesn't fly anything smaller. The legacy carriers fly a number of different aircraft types, which increases costs.

[Flavius Josephus]

A number of the carriers, including Continental, now have those small, nimble little Embraer (Gulfstream?) jets for smaller routes and offpeak. Personally, I love'em.