I've been reading a lot of the comments. 1st off, WN will be going intl. Not abroad (trans atlantic, pacific), but they're going across the boarder into CUN and into some Carribiean markets given that the FL buyout goes through. WN will never operate a hub and spoke network. Even though a point-to-point operation costs more, however, it allows them to make more money. How they make more money typically has to deal with slot times. When I worked at DL, most of our flights were on the ground for almost an hour before they could depart again. This was because of the slot time that's available going in/out of that particular city. WN, will look at other alternatives. If they see another city that has potential for profit where they can get the plane back out in 25-30mins, they're going to take it. As far as different aircraft type, a 50 seat aircraft is harder to offset costs than a larger aircraft. This is why Independence Air failed because majority of their fleet was 50 seat aircraft and they had no other means of support to offset these costs, which is the benefit of having a larger aircraft. They are looking into the -800 model, which overall, will allow them to increase passenger capacity by 12 compared to the -700 without adding another FA. I know this is the same aircraft type, but different model.