Sorry, just getting caught up from a few days off. So, in complete and utter speculation Rightseat Ballast wrote:

If you watch what Bedford is doing, he appears to be buying up a comprehensive route structure in the Midwestern US. Assuming both the F9 and YX deals are completed, RAH will have independent hubs in Denver, kansas City, and Milwaukee. Add to that a strong presence in Indianapolis and Columbus (and to some degree St. Loius), and it seems that Bedford is gunning to enter the market at the dominant airline for Midwesterners to fly on. It is a smaller market, and is generally underserved (excluding Chicago) by the rest of the industry. For travelers looking for point to point or delay-free service within the Midwest, RAH will offer a compelling option. For any major carrier that wants to access that market share, a codesharing agreement would be mutually beneficial. This is why I think Bedford has gotten the blessing of his major parnters, and why his actions are not seen as being threatening. The only carriers gunning for MKE are Airtran and Southwest, two airlines that RAH does not have a relationship with. Everyone who deals with RAH is just sitting on the sidelines. By keeping the Shuttle America contract, Delta is quietly funding an (albeit minor) effort to take money away from Airtran and Southwest, two of the more established threats to the legacy carriers. The only bigger worries out there are Allegient and Spirit, but it will be another decade before those two make mainline pilots cry over their beers.

I think(once again, purely speculative) that Southwest is really being overlooked as the main competitor for RAH in this instance. For point to point/delay free service in the midwest I would think Southwest owns that market since that is the core fundamentals that got them started. They are cutting capacity in other parts of their route structure but continue to beef up Denver. They own Midway and St. Louis. The rest of the midwest is underserved because the traffic just isn't there. I don't think DAL will tolerate RAH as competition just to stifle LUV or AAI because that would just be funding RAH's war chest when they eventually go head to head. Further muddying the waters, is DAL/NWA still considering MKE a focus city? I know they were pretty aggressive there before.

And finally, I don't cry over my beers. It dilutes them, so I make sure to lean to one side when I cry.