Squeezing the sponge to extract every last drop of water will only go so far. Airlines like every other business must spend (albiet good purchases) its way to earning a profit year after year, regardless of the economic environment. Reinvestment is critical to long term success. 21st century on demand mediocre management will continue shuffling the deck but eventually will have to wager. The longer they wait the bigger the wager or face the likelihood of a greater risk for failure.
The other dominant global players offer a far more refined product. US airlines just can't compare, and those distant companies are selling tickets along side the homegrown players to your next door neighbor through the global travel agency called the internet. The number two guy isn't sitting still, neither are those holding positions below. Hopefully, Smisek isn't building his brand of a competitive product on shifting sand. In the end it's what you do with the size that matters most. Keep your same old drained and tired infrastructure and you are bound to repeat your past failures in the next economic downturn or oil spike. One need not wonder why UAL was still loosing more (not just money) than the competition even after the benefit of bankruptcy. Now that same mentality of choking to profitability.
Expenditure reflect directly in the quality of your product and "little" is too small to make it truly world class.