I skipped a page on this thread, and do not know if it has been said before.

But could it be possible that the fee for departure scheme allows mainline to budget with more fixed cost in mind. Witht this they can budget how much their hub feeds are going to cost with little regard to revenue the generate.

I used the same idea when I bought a new car with a warranty.... sure it cost more per month, but now I could better manage my budget becasue a new car was more reliable and mx cost were slim to none. Whereas, old car, had no idea when the engine would let go, or when something expensive would break. Per month the old car was cheaper, but the liabilty of waiting to pay out a large expense was becoming too much.

I may be overstepping my bounds thinking that there is a managment group with that kind of foresight

Reeves