Let me ask a dumb question: whilst the site could be surveyed in great detail, until the land was shifted and levelled, would it have been possible to accurately predict the winds? As an onlooker, I would doubt it since the wind can only react to what is actually there, not what is predicted to be there after construction. So, I would have thought more leniancy by the committee might have been in order.
As to the purchase of the 738 (ER or whatever) one can well imagine that Comair would not have wanted to purchase anything else but their standard equipment - to keep the costs down the profits up.
If more rotations by smaller a/c might now be needed, it will be the only viable route for them. I would still say that it is a great achievement and one that was bound to have large unknown factors.
So, how do/did they predict the winds? Are there any similar, newly constructed fields of this type in the world?