That's a gun they're holding to their own head too unless they can walk away from the terminated capacity or replace it.

Piedmont would presumably be the first target. They get 175's if they drop their rates. Piedmont refuses, AA shuts it down and pays Mainline, Republic or Skywest as much or more money to pick up the lift. At which point they can squeeze the real targets - PSA and Envoy.

But can they really make a credible threat that somebody else will pick up that much lift for less money? Who would do it and with what airplanes? I guess you could stand up a new airline but that's a big production. Are they going to Highlander/hunger games PSA and Envoy against each other?