How did Shuttle by United workout there United?

UAL OWNED the west coast flying at one point but has systematically abandoned most of those markets. SEA to LA, for example, is served only by outsourced RJ's. Half the flying from SEA to SFO is served by RJ's and overall significantly reduced. PDX, OAK, ONT, and on and on - same story.

I think Virgin will flourish in this market for the following reasons:

Passenger entertainment and "cool factor" - United can't touch that.
Virgin will attract point to point traffic - connections don't matter.
The United passenger experience - people have memories.

Of course that's just me, and I'm bitter