People are lured by the seemingly low fares, and the general public assumes that all airlines big or small have pretty much the same basic service and reliability. It's all regulated by the government, right? The ads in local newspapers and on billboards in town have colorful photos of fun vacations spots, with a low airfare displayed prominently. Often the surrounding areas served have had little or no airline service conveniently nearby before, so the customers are eager.

This business model would work wonderfully if the flights were reliable. No one wants to plan a trip and then have to deal with the hassles and grief when they can't get to their destination. On the planned arrival day travelers usually have show tickets they have bought, hotel rooms, rental cars, plans with friends or family such as a wedding or funeral or reunion, etc. They may have planned a brief 2 or 3 day getaway, so missing the first day of the trip cuts it in half. Or a delay getting back home results in a missed day at work, causing big problems for some. Then if they desperately book with another airline they pay dearly for the last-minute walk-up fare. This is the final straw for the cost-conscience customer AAY appealed to in the first place. There's a reason AAY sometimes drops service to a particular area, after a while the number of people buying tickets drops to a level that doesn't make it worthwhile. A reputation for being unreliable is part of that.

A business flyer that misses a meeting is one thing, he doesn't cry over that, especially if he isn't personally paying for the trip. But wreck someone's personal travel plans and they won't be happy. The general feeling from many I've heard from is that AAY has to continually expand service to new cities to draw new customers, to replace all the former customers that will never fly with them again after a debacle. It's that old PT Barnum circus thing, bilk all the customers you can, then move on to a different town for fresh ones.