It should be noted that EI are consolidating a few US flights every week. Im not sure if this is to keep loads higher or because they are down an aircraft at the moment (a brand new -300 EI-EDY is expected this week, I believe).
Look, it's tough times for everyone at the moment, from the man on the dole to the man running the country. Ryanair, easyJet, BA, everyone is feeling the pinch, at the very least EI are attempting to grow out of the situation. This idea was employed in 2002 by Ryanair and easyJet allowing them to get their foot in the door at a low cost. Aer Lingus needed to do something because it's traditional ORK, DUB and SNN markets are not large enough to sustain it into the future, to get the results expected of a publicly traded company.
Brian.