Thank goodness none of you work near finance - or route planning.
Airlines might look like those in the US if you did...in fact, is that where you work?
My personal favourite:
The GLA-BOS service (now withdrawn) DID make money, although it may have lacked full commitment by the public.
That's not really demand at all now is it?! Can you not see the irony in your own statements?
If one company's cost of capital precludes it from taking on those routes, someone with an appropriate cost of capital will do so if the market is sufficiently deregulated. If not, you can't force airlines to do so, or say "I would do this if I were CEO", because it is simply pie in the sky dreaming.