JRF, you appear to oversimplify the issues.
Right now, the majors are losing money (the present tense of the verb, btw, is spelled "lose" not "loose") because of their transtlantic exposure. Prior to Sept 11th., they were doing okay. Had it been part of their nature to lose money, they wouldn't have existed in the first place.
Short-haul operators aren't doing too badly at the moment. And all the UK's low-cost operators are short-haul.
As far as running low-cost operations is concerned, most of the majors are learning lessons from them. Provided all the majors survive the current difficulties, I suspect that Ryanair, easyJet, Go and Buzz will have to watch their backs a little more and (in some cases) stop being quite so smug.
As for a coach journey lasting well in excess of an hour on which you have to have the correct change, without assistance from FR's agents, terminating in what you felt was an unsafe area of town, I think somebody's taking the proverbial...
Hahn is easily 20 miles from Frankfurt. You might as well call White Waltham "London Maidenhead". Calling this place "Frankfurt Hahn" is conniving at a deliberate deception of the passengers.
What next - London Farnborough? London Bournemouth? London Southampton?
Just as a matter of interest, Aerad and Jeppesen do not call Hahn a Frankfurt airport. And I see no reason why anybody else should, just to indulge O'Leary.
[ 25 November 2001: Message edited by: HugMonster ]