You're (your?) correct that a significant correction will happen, but I don't think it will be as simple or painless as erasing a few zeros from some ivory tower ledger. I know you probably didn't mean to oversimplify it to that degree, but there will very much be a felt downside to the necessary corrections. Ironically I think we (all governments around the world) will try to spray more poison all over the problem in the form of more debt and forced malinvestment by decree and maybe even more nation building and global wealth redistribution, crushing regulations and maybe even trade wars, wage and price controls [that ALWAYS fail] and other bananas up the tailpipe of a free and sustainable economy. We're already seeing a lot of this (still living under the crushing weight of the so called "Global Poverty Relief Act" that siphons a whopping almost 1% of our GDP as well as many, many other financial albatrosses we wear trying to save the universe.

Before the necessary course corrections can be made, the debt addicts will do anything they can to take one more hit off the crack pipe and simply forgiving it won't fix it without a corresponding amount of pain. The latest trend is going bat dung crazy into debt by not calling it debt (like backstopping Freddie and Fannie on steroids) like the recent 12 figure FDIC committment on derivatives and we can be sure they will try more things like this in desperation to save the only status quo many even know.

Companies need to be fiscally responsibile, especially airlines. While we are investing wisely in some areas, like helping to build/fund NYC infrastructure at JFK and LGA, the new terminal in ATL, smart fleet refreshment on what I assume is a very good deal on the 100+ 73-900's, HVC enhancements and other things, I really hope we don't dump very much money into an arbitrary SLC mega hub. I like SLC and hope it stays around. But most of the flying we do there is a company choice.

Even if all of the funding for something like this is done by the airport and governments involved, there is still a cost to it and that cost will be passed on to the airlines that fly in and out of SLC. Ironically, this could end up applying more pressure rather than less for DL to move to a different arbitrary hub somewhere else to serve the west some day.

While we may enjoy having little fortress hubs here and there, DL has shown they are more than willing and able to gut them very quickly and turn them into "focus cities" that are mere shells of their former glory, with or without pilot bases remaining and in either case significant downsizing.

I just think SLC and DL would be better served right now by digging in with what we have there and investing only in necessary upkeep and reasonable customer ammenities. And like others have said, the ATC training thing could have a few knots worked out as well. But right now is a bad time to be dumping big money into SLC, wherever that money "comes from".