You're guess is as good as ours. As per us going away from the UAL codeshare, I think the passengers will go away also.
"Everyday is like the first time we've ever done it" that seems to be the appropriate motto to all actions here. It's hard to remain stand alone vision and express jet tried those and they didn't work out as planned. Especially in a regional market being an LCC prolly won't work too well.
Time will only tell EAS is not a guarantee for renewal