Yeah, over on the frequent flyer community I participate in (FlyerTalk.com) we saw the risks months ago when Elliott got involved. The writing was on the wall with Southwest's announcement in December that they'd move to assigned seating. That's when they started to abandon the differentiated features that made them unique— and had helped give them the longest history of profitability among major US carriers. Now this change eliminates nearly every other differentiator.

Also, you and Crankyflier say "price and schedule"... but Southwest hasn't been a price leader for several years now. Other airlines routinely match or slightly beat Southwest's fares. That means all they've got going for them is schedule. And one or two really nice aspects of their elite status program... which, who knows, they could totally gut next at this point.