It seems to be that with no viable competition from MAN in the foreseeable future VS will be milking it long-haul. I know its business but its not good for the travelling public. The option of flying South is a non-starter as all the beach aircraft fly from LGW and not LHR, i can fly to Sou, Edi, Ext, Inv, etc, but not to the second busiest airport in the UK, and the recent acquisition of Flybe makes that even more unlikely. So it looks like flights Stateside will be cheaper via DUB or NYC or PHL and connecting, its back to the nineties again.
I guess we'll see how things pan out in the coming months. I fully expected fare hikes in the immediate aftermath of Thomas Cook collapsing, though although I expect fares to drop it wouldn't surprise me if they don't fall to the same levels pre-Thomas Cook collapse, which as well as demand could well be a sign of whether airlines were having to sell them for less than they would have otherwise charged due to competition and the market demanding low fares.