Apparently you forget that the unions and airline management were never completely satisfied with Virgin America, and their opposition continued for a few years after the DOT gave them the green light. ALPA never fully relented until the VX pilots began to seek out representation. Alaska airlines specifically kept raising issues for nearly three years after the DOT gave VX the green light. It was not a simple case of airlines trying to get VX to comply with DOT demands, it was a concerted effort to keep VX from ever getting certified, even despite compliance with DOT demands.