PHF is an odd move. I guess they think everyone can go out of ORF but thats a massive misunderstanding of the area. PHF-ORF cover a very large congregation of cities with nearly 2 million folks. There isn't one big city although ORF tries to be, but if there was it'd be bigger than BNA, JAX, MEM, RIC, BUF, ABQ, MSY, RDU or PVD. But it's decentralized and frankly not that rich. It's a military "town" and primarily Navy that dwarfs a important USAF base and lots of USMC and Army bases spread around not to mention CIA and shipyards.

But you've got bridge tunnels that back up for miles that make anyone on the peninsula shun ORF. ORF is for the southside, PHF is for the peninsula, richmond is for richmond and the savvy drivers may move between all 3.

I've non-reved out of RIC and met folks who drove all the way from Virginia Beach and I've heard the gate house announcement: "we're oversold our Newport News flight, if you'd like to fly to Norfolk in an hour..."

I mean ATL-RIC is 8 mainline aircraft including MD88s, 738s and 757s. ATL-PHF is 5 flights 4 of which are MD88s and 1 a CRJ900. ATL-ORF is 7 flights mostly 88s with 757 and MD90 mixed in.

That's 20 flights a day for 1 airline to basically the same area. And SWA pulling out of PHF that Valujet started at their outset and Delta ignored for over a decade is to me a strange move.