Can’t speak for Lax however I can speak for myself as when I lived and worked in Manchester until the mid 90s ! my work took me over the Pennines up as far as Gateshead almost every week come rain or shine.
Took the train at times and even flew on Gill Air flying box a few times.
I have been snowed in a few times and nice to know have actually cycled over the snake pass so I know the area pretty well and what to expect!
I am far from delusional oh and once it took me 4 hours to get from my last home in South Oxford to Leighton Buzzard in snow the likes I’ve never encountered up north !
Manchester Airport is and will form the pivotal point of the TPExpress rail services currently heavily delayed by cost overruns down south and Graylings incompetence did I say that before ?
When completed it will be unbelievably easy relatively quick and significantly cheaper to travel from the likes of Malton, York or Cleethorpes by modern clean fast trains than via the ECML , Crossrail and Heathrow Spur still what ever take your boat.
As for domestic flights haven’t you understood that government narrative of the last 15 years irrelevant of access they have used tax to actually discourage many/most of these types of journeys haven’t they ?
Again the domestic connectivity is questionable at best imho.
It doesn’t work financially now and never did and probably never will cepting Tax payer support